The Real Phantom Menace
by LPK9
Summary: A stomach bug, a few liters of moof juice, and a malfunctioning droid show Emperor Palpatine that not all is at seems in his Galactic Empire. AU. Six months after the destruction of the first Death Star.
1. Chapter 1

_Emperor Palpatine's Bedroom_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

"Moof juice unavailable, Master," the droid stated flatly.

Emperor Sheev Palpatine, Senior Sith Lord, Master of the Known Galaxy, ground his teeth together so hard that they hurt.

"I want moof juice," he stated coldly, his yellow eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Find it and bring it to me."

The food droid whirred for a few seconds and then rocked slightly on its feet, "I regret to inform you that moof juice is unavailable, Master."

"It must be available somewhere," Palpatine snarled. "This is Imperial Center, the power center of the Empire. Somewhere on this planet is moof juice. Get it for me."

The droid tipped its silver head upwards as if considering, shifted, then shook its head. "I am sorry, Master. There is no moof juice available. May I interest you in some mupple juice?"

With what Palpatine acknowledged was a pettish shriek, the senior Sith lifted a hand and hurled the offending droid hard into a nearby wall using the Force. The mechanical being's arms and legs fell off and its body crashed to the floor.

Darth Sidious stalked over to his com, sent out an enraged order, and then sat down and leaned against his giant black cyrene silk pillow. Six minutes and 18 seconds later, he sensed the arrival of his second-in-command. He gestured angrily at the door and a moment later Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, strode into the bedroom and lowered himself onto one knee.

"You summoned me, my master?" the vocoder inquired in what was clearly a worried tone. Palpatine pushed down a flash of irritation. It was natural enough that Vader was nervous as abrupt summons often resulted in harsh Force Lightning discipline, but in this case ...

"Rise, Lord Vader," he ordered, then continued impatiently. "I am sick with an intestinal virus and want moof juice. Get me some."

The giant cyborg rose to his full two meter height and stared in surprise at him, then glanced at the food droid lying on the floor muttering softly to itself.

"Moof juice, Master?" Vader asked carefully. "Is the droid, er, malfunctioning?"

"It is after I threw it against the wall," Sidious hissed. "It told me that no moof juice is available. Clearly that is absurd. I want you to find some moof juice and bring it to me."

The cyborg gazed at his master, then at the droid, then gestured slightly. The crumpled mechanical rose into the air and floated after Vader out the door.

Sidious leaned back in bed and groaned as he massaged his head. He had a horrible headache, his stomach was roiling miserably, and he'd had to make one too many trips to the refresher today. He was the most powerful sentient in the galaxy and he wanted moof juice. Was that too much to ask?

Exactly 63 minutes later, Darth Vader returned carrying a large flask of orange moof juice. Sidious felt his salivary glands tingling in delight at the very sight, and he gestured toward his side table. His apprentice obediently placed the flask and a clean empty cup on the appropriate horizontal surface and bowed slightly.

"Your moof juice, Master. I took the liberty of running a sample through a chemical analysis unit. It is neither poisoned nor spoiled."

"You have done well, Lord Vader. Depart now and leave me to my moof juice. Also, send me another food droid, a properly functioning one!"

"Yes, my master."

Sidious waited for the door to close behind the giant, reached over, and delicately poured some moof juice into a cup. He took a cautious sip, rolled his eyes in delight, and then drank down the entire cup. It was absolutely delicious. He had loved moof juice as a child but hadn't imbibed any in literally decades. Given how well it was going down right now, that was a regrettable decision on his part.

He was, he realized, quite dehydrated. He sucked down another two cups, then used the Force to return the flask into a refrigerator in the next room. A few minutes later, he lay back in his bed, pulled his favorite orange shaak wool blanket over his body, and drifted off to sleep.

/

Sidious woke up in a near panic. He had dreamed of being trapped, of being tethered to something. He thrashed his arms and even sent out a tendril of Force Lightning before realizing that he had merely gotten himself tangled in his blanket.

He shook himself loose and sat up, taking deep breaths. A moment later, he jerked in alarm at the sight of the slight figure looming a meter away from him.

"Malvos," he hissed angrily, using the Force to organize his blankets into tidy rectangles on his bed. "Do _not_ creep in on me like that."

"My apologies, Sheev," the other man said drily. "You were deeply asleep."

"I am ill," Palpatine replied petulantly.

"And since you are ill," Malvos replied smoothly, "you must drink your medicine."

Palpatine groaned and leaned back against his bedstead, "Medicine always tastes awful."

"Nonetheless," the other man replied firmly. "You need to take it. You've not been this sick in many decades. It would not do for the Master of the Galaxy to linger ill too long with a virus."

The Emperor nodded wearily and reached for the small glass of medicine on his bedside table. Uneasily, he gulped down the clear blue liquid and then began gagging dramatically.

"That is disgusting!" he whined.

His companion reached over to pat the old Sith on the shoulder, "Now, now, you'll feel better soon."

"I just want to sleep," Palpatine muttered, leaning back again on his pillow.

"As you wish. I will send some more medicine and food in three hours."

Sidious waved an impatient hand and was relieved when the other departed. The former Nubian Senator focused his considerable Force power on his stomach and willed it to stay calm.

He failed. Thirty seconds later, he was in the refresher throwing up violently.

Yuck.

/-

_Vader's Office_

_Imperial Palace_

_Three hours later_

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, frowned beneath his mask at the dismembered food droid on his desk. He had removed it from his master's suite and had fully intended to throw it in the trash, but he liked fixing droids and he was a bit stressed about his master being sick so he had decided to run some diagnostics.

And he had found something very odd.

There was a bizarre subroutine buried in the droid's primary intelligence module which prevented the food droid from bringing moof juice or any dish made from Jogan fruit or meilooroon to the Emperor.

It was most peculiar. Vader himself could hardly eat anything due to his intimate encounter with a lava flow 20 years previously, but Palpatine had a varied if thoroughly gourmet diet.

Who had programmed the droid to avoid these specific foods and why? Perhaps Palpatine himself had a problem with them that he had forgotten about in the midst of his illness? If so, the old man might well wake up feeling even worse than usual, and would probably take out his discomfort on his loyal apprentice.

Vader sighed. He did not like his Master at all. Indeed, at some level, he hated him. But the old man was all he really had in the galaxy after losing...

No, he would not think of her.

Or the child.

Vader had flirted with the idea of killing Palpatine and taking over the Empire, in reality he preferred the situation as it was. He needed someone to venerate, even if the individual in question was cruel and manipulative. It was therefore unsettling that his Master had succumbed to a simple stomach virus, but the old man would no doubt recover quickly enough and return to terrorizing his apprentice.

The Sith's com beeped and Vader stiffened at the name on the holoscreen.

He carefully pressed the com button with one great index finger.

"Yes, my master?" he inquired respectfully.

"Get more moof juice and bring it to me," Palpatine ordered, his voice faintly tinny through the com.

Vader hesitated.

"Are you certain it is agreeing with you, Master?" he asked delicately.

His master's tone was impatient, "Moof juice is making me feel much better but the new food droid you sent me still refuses to secure some more. Would you care to explain why my droids are malfunctioning?"

"I do not know," Vader replied carefully. "I discovered an odd subroutine in the droid which you destroyed earlier. The droid was programmed to keep you from drinking moof juice or eating any dish made from Jogan fruit or meilooroon. Perhaps they are unhealthy for you, Master?"

There was a contemplative pause and then the Emperor spoke more calmly, "That is extraordinary, Lord Vader. I do not remember having any issues with those foods. But it matters not. I don't care for either Jogan fruit or meilooroon, and you can provide me with my moof juice during this illness. Get me more now!"

There was only one thing Vader could say to this.

"Yes, my master."

/

_Twelve hours later_

Sheev Palpatine, Emperor of the known galaxy, opened his eyes and loosened his clenched hands. Again, he had been tormented with unpleasant dreams of being trapped, of struggling to break free ...

But no, it was just a bad dream. Sidious sighed, swung his wrinkled legs out of bed, and walked bare footed over to the shielded window which showed the vast array of lights of the southern reaches of Imperial City.

Palpatine gazed over the twinkling lights below him, then raised his eyes to observe the myriad colors from spacecraft ascending and descending ...

His breath suddenly caught in astonishment. The stars glittered like diamonds in the vast array of the heavens, vibrant even amongst the fog of light of Imperial City.

The old man shook his head in bewilderment. How long had it been since he had appreciated the beauty of the stars. The beauty of _anything_?

/

When the Emperor woke up the next morning, Malvos was waiting for him.

"Cease your hovering," Sheev muttered angrily.

The other man regarded him gravely with hooded eyes.

"I am merely concerned about you, Sheev. You have been quite ill."

"I just need to rest."

"Are you taking your medicine? Are you eating at all?"

Palpatine opened his mouth to describe his issues with food and drink and medicine and recalcitrant food droids, then shut it as a faint warning sounded in the back of his head. He deliberately made his Force sense muzzy and amorphous.

"I took my medicine, yes," he grumbled. "As for eating, yes, a little. I'm being careful or my stomach rebels."

Malvos relaxed infinitesimally and bowed slightly, "I am relieved, Sheev. I am merely concerned about you."

"Please just let me sleep," the old Emperor replied peevishly.

"As you wish."

/

_The next morning_

Sheev Palpatine, Emperor of the known galaxy, stood quietly on the balcony adjacent to his bedroom.

He carefully lifted a cup of moof juice to his lips, took a long drink, then stared gravely at the remaining orange liquid.

It had been more than two full days since he had last eaten or drunk anything except the moof juice provided by Darth Vader. He had taken the medication brought by Malvos just once, and promptly vomited it up. The other times, he had surreptitiously poured the medicine down the refresher and left the empty glass on his bedside table.

And it was obvious, absolutely obvious, that ... that ...

He was suddenly full of rage and bewilderment and horror and anger. He wanted to kill him, kill him!

But realistically, it wasn't even clear if he _could_ kill him. He'd been under the other man's influence for so long ...

What should he do? If he talked to Vader about it all, how would Vader react? It was all too likely that Vader would side with Sidious's oppressor. It wasn't like he and the former Anakin Skywalker had a close and trusting relationship!

There was a sudden jolt in the Force and Palpatine spun around suddenly, his hand dropping to his waist where his lightsaber wasn't.

He didn't even know where his lightsaber was. He'd been guarded for so long by shields and Imperial Royal Guards and yes, Malvos, and realistically, he was old ...

The Emperor relaxed in relief as a man stepped cautiously onto the balcony and dropped to his knees.

"Rise, Agent Krill," he ordered even as he focused his green-yellow eyes on the man. Krill was one of the Emperor's Hands, completely loyal and faithful to the Emperor.

He hoped.

"My master," the dark haired man responded, rising to his feet and extending a datapad. "An individual has been captured during a Rebel raid on the Tanjay garrison who is, I assert, the man who destroyed the Death Star at Yavin."

Palpatine's nostrils flared and his eyes glowed yellow. The Death Star had been his triumph, his precious toy, and some loathsome Rebel pilot had managed an unheard of shot to destroy the battle station. The individual would die slowly and unpleasantly ...

His enraged thoughts ground to a sudden halt as he read the second paragraph of the report.

He stopped, and reread it, and reread it again.

It could not, it just could not be. It could not could not could not ...

"Where is the prisoner?" the Emperor rasped to Krill.

"He is being held on Tanjay, your Highness, in the maximum security cells. I did not inform the acting governor of his identity as the destroyer of the Death Star, but I am certain of my information."

Palpatine hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded, "You have done very well indeed, Agent Krill. Send a coded message to the governor that the prisoner is not to be interrogated or harmed in any way, but that he must be heavily guarded."

"Do you wish for him to be brought here?" the agent asked respectfully.

Darth Sidious gazed out at the sprawling ecumenopolis which stretched as far as the eye could see.

"No," he replied absently. "No, I have another plan. Quietly order my private shuttle here immediately."

/

_The Eclipse_

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

_2 hours later_

"Stay on Imperial Center and ensure that the government continues operating in a reasonably efficient manner, Lord Vader," Palpatine ordered his apprentice through the holoterminal.

The great mask was, of course, completely devoid of emotion but even across the vast distance separating them, Sidious could sense Vader's confusion.

"Are you ... quite well, my master?" the younger Sith asked carefully.

Palpatine glanced at his large cooling unit in the corner, which was stacked with cases of moof juice obtained by Vader at Sidious's request.

"I am indeed well," Palpatine replied soothingly. "This illness has exhausted me and I wish to spend some time away from the seat of government. I am sure I will return within two weeks time and if there is some urgent matter well, Tanjay is not too far away."

"Very well, my master."

Darth Sidious shut off the com, hesitated, then entered an alternate code. A moment later, his nemesis appeared on the screen.

"Yes, Sheev?"

"I am on the _Eclipse_, in orbit."

"I know," the other man stated coldly. "This sudden decision to leave the planet seems unwise."

"I am tired of being here," Palpatine replied in a petulant tone. "All these people with their Force blind minds, all the guards and their endless stupidity. I am exhausted and still recovering from my illness. I wish to recover in peace. I assume that Lord Vader can keep the government shambling along, especially with a little surreptitious assistance from you."

The other man's eyes narrowed slightly but he only nodded, "As you wish."

/

_(Makeshift) Throne Room_

_Governor's Mansion_

_Lorta (Capitol of Tanjay)_

_Tanjay_

_10 hours later_

Emperor Palpatine gazed out of the heavily shielded transparisteel window and focused his aged eyes on the green clad mountains which rose to break purplish low hanging clouds.

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. A verdant wonder.

There was a soft chime from behind him and Sidious used the Force to twirl his throne around toward the door. He grabbed his current cup of moof juice and took a long sip even as he watched the six stormtroopers approach with a prisoner in their midst.

The troopers parted as they reached Palpatine, revealing the manacled form of a very young man, with dark blond hair, blue eyes, and a cleft in his chin.

Darth Sidious shook his head slightly. He had, until this moment, doubted Krill's report. But now he knew, to the very depths of his being, that this young man was indeed the offspring of Darth Vader. The young man's untrained Force presence was off the charts in power, for one thing, and for another he was the very image of Anakin Skywalker before Skywalker/Vader had been scalded in lava.

"Leave us," Palpatine ordered the guards, who retreated obediently.

The young man glared at the old man on his swiveling chair.

"Who are you?" Skywalker demanded insolently.

Palpatine blinked in astonishment, "You don't know?"

Both blond eyebrows rose impudently.

"Should I?"

The Emperor stared thoughtfully at the young men, then leaned back, "I am Emperor Palpatine, young Skywalker, so yes, I expected you to recognize me. Regardless of where you have hidden yourself all your life, you must have seen my image somewhere!"

Skywalker's jaw dropped and the boy rolled his eyes, "You are _not_ the Emperor."

"I most certainly am," Palpatine replied rather pettishly. "I am Emperor Palpatine, master of the Known Galaxy."

Skywalker continued to stand proudly, hands manacled, with a sneer on his normally pleasant features, "Whatever you're trying to pull, it won't work."

"All right, fine," Sheev muttered wearily, and gestured at the young man. Skywalker's chains dropped from his wrists with a clatter, and the youth stared first at them in awe, then at a chair which was now floating delicately through the air from the side of the room. He watched in amazement as the chair lowered gently onto the floor.

"As you can see, I am not trying to trick you. I am clearly a strong Force Sensitive. Please sit, young Skywalker," Palpatine said, trying to sound gracious. In his own ears, it was a rather feeble attempt but then he was used to being menacing, grumpy, irritable, angry, and a host of other negative emotions. Not gracious.

The boy bit his lip at this display of Force power but shook his head resolutely, "I prefer to stand. If ... if you are the Emperor, then I want nothing to do with you and ... besides, this could be some kind of trick. In fact, it must be. I'm not important enough for the Emperor to want to talk to me."

Palpatine blew his lips out in irritation. He had spent literally years manipulating Anakin Skywalker back in the day but he was tired, and honestly rather confused, and he wasn't sure he was up to dealing with another stubborn young Skywalker.

"Well, I see you require additional proof," he responded wearily, and grabbed his holopad and started surfing the Holonet. After a few seconds, he found a Holonet report from the most recent Empire Day celebration with his image front and center, and sent the holopad floating towards his prisoner.

Young Skywalker stared at the holopad nervously, as if it might bite him, before cautiously taking it. A moment later, the boy's eyes were fixed on the screen for a full minute before lifting to stare in amazement at the aged despot on his throne.

Palpatine sensed the moment the young man realized the truth. The blue eyes widened incredulously and Skywalker's fear, and resolution, rose to new heights.

"You look remarkably like your father," Sheev commented absently,

The young man blinked and his forehead creased in astonishment, "You ... you knew my father?"

Now it was Palpatine's turn to blink, "Well, of course I knew your father. I have ..."

He trailed away and frowned. Skywalker didn't know, obviously, that his father was busy tearing around the galaxy as the Strong Arm of the Empire. That seemed rather odd. Or perhaps not. There were a few rogue Jedi still scattered among the planets and if one of them had interacted with the boy, well, the last thing they would want would be for the son of Darth Vader to know that he was the son of Darth Vader.

"I knew your mother too," Sheev added. "Padme Amidala of Naboo. Remarkable woman. You get your looks from your father but your height is all Padme. She was a tiny spitfire."

Skywalker's eyes were bugging out now in disbelief and to Palpatine's relief, the youth sank into the offered chair, apparently because he couldn't stand well anymore.

"You knew my ..."

"I did, yes."

The youth frowned at the old man on the throne and tilted his head slightly, regarding the Sith with surprisingly wise eyes.

"I do believe you," Skywalker murmured resolutely. "You're telling the truth. What do you want? Not that it matters because I'm not doing anything for you."

Palpatine's already wrinkled face wrinkled more as the old man cogitated for a long moment before he nodded thoughtfully.

"I need you to be a ... a mirror to me, so to speak."

"A mirror?" the youth replied, his eyes widened in what was clearly horror.

"Not literally," Sidious replied with a wave of his hand. "A psychological mirror. An emotional mirror. I find myself at the entrance to the Kessel Run but uncertain as to whether I should enter the Maw or not. The hyperspace lane less traveled is uncertain and dangerous, but perhaps the best way to go. Does that make sense, young Skywalker?"

The boy shook his head, "No."

Palpatine sighed again and pulled the holopad (gently) from Skywalker's grip so that he could enter in several secret codes and find ...

He gestured and the holopad floated back to the youth, who looked at the image in confusion.

"Uh, who are these people?"

"That is me on the left, young Skywalker, when I about your age. And the one on the right is my identical twin, Malvos."

/  
_Author Note: Many thanks to my wonderful husband for his editing!_


	2. Chapter 2

_(Makeshift) Throne Room_

_Governor's Mansion_

_Lorta (Capitol of Tanjay)_

_Tanjay_

Luke Skywalker, Tatooine farmboy, destroyer of the Death Star, gazed in bewilderment at the old man sitting on the throne.

So far this mission had been a complete disaster. He'd been sent here as lead officer of a raid to capture weapons from a depot. It had obviously been a trap and while Luke had managed to delay the Imps long enough for half his team to escape, he'd been captured and his other companions killed by blaster fire.

He'd fully expected a round of Imperial hospitality including an interrogation droid but first he'd been left alone for 24 hours, then hauled out of his cell and marched here to talk about ... life, apparently ... with the Emperor himself.

"Um, you have a twin brother?" he asked suspiciously. "I admit I don't know a lot about you, but nobody ever mentioned that."

Palpatine stared at the young man and sighed. This was a complicated story and the young man, thus far, did not seemed particularly bright.

He focused his Force power on young Skywalker and then retreated cautiously. Oh yes, he was smart enough. Young, untrained, rather naïve, but he sensed a complex and intelligent mind. No surprise there. Whatever else you could say about Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, they were both brilliant people.

"No one knows about my twin brother," Palpatine replied matter-of-factly. "Or at least, no one still alive. It was something of a secret when I was young, and Malvos has ensured that it was even more deeply concealed in the last 60 years. He has worked from the shadows all these years."

Skywalker frowned, "How old are you?"

"I'm over 80 standard years," Sidious replied casually, taking a deep draught of moof juice.

He felt a flare in the Force and lifted his eyes to note that Skywalker's gaze was fixed on the juice in his hand. Oh.

"Did they not feed you while you were in detention?"

Skywalker bit his lip but remained silent. He was thirsty and hungry but he would not admit it to this ancient, wrinkled despot who was probably just messing with his head.

"Fools," Palpatine growled. He needed this young man alive and while one day was not a concern, it was the general carelessness that annoyed him. The last thing the Empire needed was valuable prisoners starving to death.

He gestured towards a small cooling unit in the corner, and a small bottle of moof juice floated out and over to Skywalker, who stared at it nervously.

"Please, drink," he encouraged magnanimously, even as he took a sip from his own cup.

The youth looked at it suspiciously before carefully taking the bottle in his right hand, "Is it drugged?"

Sidious's eyes flared yellow and he spit out his mouthful of moof juice, splattering it all over his coarseweave robe and the surrounding area.

Skywalker was staring at him with wide eyed shock, and Palpatine forced himself to calm down.

"No," he grated out. "No, the moof juice is not drugged. For all I know, everything else I have eaten and drank for the last 50 years has been drugged. That's how he kept control over me."

"Um, who?" Skywalker asked cautiously, even as he opened his own bottle of juice and took a sip. The ecstatic expression on the youth's face showed that if nothing else, the young man had a sensible appreciation for moof juice.

"Malvos, my brother," Palpatine replied with a frown. Was that not obvious?

Apparently it wasn't.

"Look, I admit to being super confused, your Highness," Skywalker stated. This situation was weird and getting weirder by the minute. "Can you please start at the beginning?"

Palpatine sighed and leaned back on this throne. This was not, he admitted, an unreasonable request. Besides, if he talked it out perhaps he could make more sense of the crazy situation.

"Malvos and I are twins with identical genetic imprints. We were born into a prominent family on Naboo. I was the elder twin by 15 minutes, and was a full 1.5 kg heavier than Malvos at birth. He was a weakling baby from the start, and was born missing his left leg below the knee."

"That's sad," Luke ventured cautiously.

"Sad," Sidious repeated angrily, spittle actually flying from his mouth. "Sad!? He's been controlling me for decades!"

"I'm just saying it is sad he was born missing a limb and was weak, whereas I assume you were a, uh, healthy baby?"

The Emperor's expression calmed, "Hmmm. I will have to contemplate that statement. My natural inclination is to focus on more recent events but yes, those early days and months ..."

He trailed off, frowning, then continued, "My father despised Malvos because he was weak and disabled and indeed rather hid him away. My mother, on the other hand, pitied and protected him. She ensured that he received up to date prosthetics as he grew, though he walked far later than I did. She died when we were 12 years of age and after that, Malvos was forced to live outside the public eye at my father's insistence."

"Sounds like a real mess of a family situation," Skywalker replied. He had always wished for a sibling but realistically, perhaps life would have been more challenging on the farm with another mouth to feed, and another person confusing the already delicate balance between adventurous Luke and his pragmatic Uncle Owen.

Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. He would miss them forever.

"I entered politics at a young age," Palpatine continued.

"How young?"

"I was, er, 16 years of age when I was inducted into the Naboo Senate."

"16?!" Skywalker replied, incredulous. At 16, he had been flying his speeder through Beggar's Canyon and shooting womp rats. At 16, he'd been arguing with Uncle Owen about moisture vaporators. 16?

Sidious lifted one eyebrow, "That was actually moderately old for a politician on Naboo. Your mother was elected queen at 14 years of age."

"My mother was a queen?!"

"Really, who raised you, young Skywalker? How can you not know this? Yes, Padme Amidala was elected queen of Naboo at a very young age and served two terms. She was and is considered one of the greatest monarchs Naboo has ever known!"

Luke opened his mouth and then shut it. He wasn't telling this old man any details of his childhood.

Palpatine waited impatiently until he realized the young man was not going to answer. This was vaguely annoying but not a serious impediment to learning more about the boy. He could tell that Skywalker had been raised on the Outer Rim thanks to his accent and no doubt his agents could figure out the specific locale of his childhood.

"Plagueis found my brother first."

"Plagueis?"

"Darth Plagueis, my Sith Master."

Skywalker's expression and Forces sense were uncomprehending so Palpatine huffed and explained in more detail, "The Sith Dark Side Masters have long held to a Rule of Two. There is always one Master and one Apprentice. Plagueis was, outwardly, a businessman but his true role was as Sith Master. He found my twin, recruited him, trained him at least in some ways in the dark arts, but then turned to me only a couple of years later. My former master told me that my brother, while strong in the Force, was not nearly as strong as I was due to his damaged development in the womb. He said that I had garnered most of the Force power and thus he would discard my brother and teach me instead."

Now Palpatine rose to his feet and began pacing, "But it was a lie, all a lie. Malvos and Plagueis used me, and then Malvos ... he manipulated and directed me through our twin bond and drugs and he instigated my murder of Plaguis ..."

"You killed your master?" Luke asked in a hushed tone even as he stood up as well. This Plagueis guy sounds unpleasant but to murder your own teacher seemed harsh. "How?"

"I plied him with wine until he lost consciousness, then tortured him to death with Sith Lightning," Palpatine replied matter of factly.

He turned now to face the young man as the horror and dismay emanating from the youth threatened to knock him over. He threw up Force shields hastily.

"You think that is dreadful, don't you?" he asked in a wondering tone.

"Um, yes? I mean, he was ... uh, your teacher. And you shouldn't torture people to death. That's cruel and um, just really bad."

Palpatine stared, his eyes slits, and then nodded slowly, "You might be correct, young Skywalker."

"I assume you're mocking me?"

"No."

Sidious strode over to the transparisteel window and stared down at an exotic stalisti garden in the distance. In the last minutes, clouds had gathered and now a soft rain splattered the soft petals with colors ranging from red to orange to yellow to everything in between.

"Do you see those flowers?" he demanded.

Skywalker walked a few steps closer and stared down before looking at the old Sith in confusion, "Yes?"

"Do you like them?"

The clear blue eyes widened slightly, "I love them! Though I love the rain even more ..."

He trailed off and Sidious lifted both eyebrows in surprise, "You love rain? Did you grow up on a desert planet? Tatooine perhaps?"

The boy scowled even as his Force sense confirmed the Emperor's guess. So Skywalker had been raised on Tatooine. That was actually brilliant as it was the very last place that Darth Vader would visit of his own volition ...

He shook his head and gestured at the flowers, "The flowers are beautiful indeed. But until several days ago, I would have been incapable of seeing their aesthetic potential. I would have thought of them as useful in producing necessary gases for the atmosphere, or have reveled in their expense, but I would have not have appreciated the way they look. An entire part of my mind has been blocked off, controlled, deadened, numbed by my brother's influence."

"What changed?" Luke asked in a puzzled tone.

"I got sick with a stomach virus and was vomiting copiously," the Emperor explained, leaning against the window slightly. "The only thing that sounded tasty was moof juice. And my food droid refused to get it for me. I had Lord Vader acquire some and drank exclusively moof juice for several days and I realized that ... I've been drugged for probably decades. Malvos has been keeping me drugged all this time so that he could control me. The drugs apparently deadened something in my mind and I was unaware of how strongly my twin was controlling my thoughts and actions through our twin Force bond."

Skywalker looked, and felt, appalled, "Your brother kept you drugged? How could he even do that?"

"He has been controlling my food and drink and medical needs since I was a young man, ostensibly to keep me safe from assassins. He has either accompanied me, or had his droids serve me, everywhere. All food and drink has been prepared either directly or indirectly through his influence. I thought, I believed, that he had taken a subservient role willingly but in fact he has been in the background controlling me."

Luke twisted his lips in confusion, "Why wouldn't he just want to run things? I mean if he's that powerful, why not take the Throne himself?"

"It's a dangerous job being Emperor, young one. There are assassins out there whose primary goal in life is to chop off my limbs, or poison me, or drop pianos on my head, or throw me into vats of colo claw pudding. Plus, frankly, being Emperor an exquisitely dull job at times. While I'm sitting on a throne listening to sycophants, he's off wallowing in medicinal mud in the Palace basement. Yes, he's had quite a good time of it."

Luke stared at the Emperor thoughtfully. He was way out of his knowledge base and comfort zone, but he had always been pretty good at sensing when someone was being genuine. And in this case, it appeared that Palpatine was truly distressed and confused.

"So ... are you thinking about turning away from the Dark Side?" he asked tentatively.

"Perhaps," Sidious replied with a deep sigh, walking carefully over to his throne and sitting back down.

"Here is the thing," he continued in a moody tone. "I didn't really choose this life. I didn't choose the Dark Side. Malvos controlled me. So maybe the Dark Side is wonderful and so is my Empire ..."

"It isn't!" Luke interrupted passionately. "How can you say that blowing up a planet is a good thing?"

The old lips drooped as the aged one contemplated thoughtfully.

"You might be right about that. You might be. Or perhaps not. Perhaps the Dark Side is power as I have spouted at my followers for all these years. But if I'm going to be evil and cruel and vicious, it should be on my terms, don't you think?"

"I don't think you should be evil and cruel and vicious at all!" Luke snapped back.

Sidious waved an irritable hand, "Yes, yes, you are young and naïve and noble, I understand that. I'm in my 80's, young Skywalker, and dealing with a fundamental shift in my entire life's foundation. I am willing to consider that my Dark Side devotion might have negative aspects, but it won't do any good to shout at me."

Luke bit his lip, "My apologies, your Highness."

"So ... what is bad about the Dark Side?" Palpatine mused aloud. "It is indeed powerful. I can have anything I really want, at any time. So on a purely objective basis, it's a great life."

Luke opened his mouth in outrage, then shut it, then opened it again, "Do you have any friends?"

Sidious blinked at the young man, who gazed at him innocently.

"Friends?"

"You know, people who love you? Who care about you? Who like to drink moof juice with you? Who will lay down their life because they are genuinely devoted to you? That kind of thing?"

The aged face crinkled with bewilderment and then sagged in misery, "No. Everyone either hates me, fears me, worships me, abhors me, wants to kill me, or some combination thereof. Plenty of people will lay down their lives for me, but I'm not sure that counts as "yes" to your question since they do it because they know they'll die if they don't as ordered."

"Is it really as bad as that?" Luke asked with a shudder. "It sounds like a lousy way to live."

"The only person who ever eats with me is Malvos," Palpatine stated through gritted teeth. "And I'm guessing he was only making absolutely sure that I was imbibing or eating his drugged foods. The rancor."

"I'm sorry, your Highness," Skywalker replied with a frown. "I just don't get this drug thing. You're saying that your twin brother has been controlling you with drugs? That he made you into a Sith Lord? That doesn't seem possible. I mean, I could see drugs making you stupid or sleepy but not, uh, devoted to the Dark Side"

Palpatine sighed, "No, he didn't make me into a Sith Lord, young Skywalker. He influenced me strongly to pledge myself to the Dark Ways through drugs and our twin bond."

"And you keep talking about this twin bond, which I don't get at all either!"

"It's a Force thing," the aged ruler continued patiently. "It naturally forms between Force sensitive family members and is likely especially strong between twins who shared the womb. But you and your father, for example, will bond strongly once you meet since you are both very strong in the Force."

Luke Skywalker blinked in bewilderment, "If he wasn't dead, you mean."

Palpatine scoffed, "He's not dead."

Luke took a few steps backwards until he was stopped by a random wall, "My father is dead. Darth Vader betrayed and murdered him."

"Jedi bantha poodoo, young Skywalker. Darth Vader _is_ your father."

_/_

_Author Note: I hope this explains the plot a bit better. I know Chapter 1 was confusing._


	3. Chapter 3

_(Makeshift) Throne Room_

_Governor's Mansion_

_Lorta (Capitol of Tanjay)_

_Tanjay_

Luke Skywalker slid down the wall and found himself in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"What?" he whispered.

Darth Sidious quivered with irritation. Really, this boy was thick.

"Darth. Vader. Is. Your. Father," he repeated sternly, taking a sip of moof juice.

The youth stared at him with blanched face and dilated eyes, "No, that's not true. That's impossible."

Palpatine sighed and channeled his inner Chancellor persona, which had lain dormant for the last 20 odd years.

"I suppose this is rather a shock," he said gently.

"It's not true!" Skywalker asserted belligerently, bouncing to his feet with fury on his young face. "You're lying!"

The elder Sith stared with fascination at Skywalker. The youth's Force power had been obvious since he walked into the room, but now, in the throes of anguish and rage, he was a supernova. So much like his father ...

The young man would be an excellent apprentice – young, whole, powerful. He obviously had tremendous emotional ties to Vader, so Sidious could use Vader to draw Skywalker to the Dark Side, then discard Vader, then ...

The old man's shoulders slumped. Malvos. Twin bond. Drugs. He was analyzing his life, not considering new apprentices at the moment. Not yet, anyway. If he decided the Dark Side was the way to go, he'd discard Malvos and Vader and take on Skywalker. (The potential exhaustion of coping with another youthful Skywalker was overwhelming, but he wouldn't think about that now.) But not now, not yet. He needed to focus on his own thoroughly screwed up life before destroying anyone else's life.

"Young Skywalker," he began with what he hoped was a gentle smile, "please, sit down. I apologize for being so blunt. I'm afraid my diplomatic filter has not been used much in the last 20 years since I took over the galaxy. Please, sit down before you fall down."

Luke stared at the old man and wobbled over to his chair and collapsed rather than sat on it, "You're lying. My father ... he was murdered by Darth Vader."

Palpatine took a deep, cleansing breath. Was it fair of the galaxy to hand him an opportunity like this when he was analyzing his whole existence? The Jedi really made it all too easy for him to turn Skywalkers to the Dark Side.

Sidious leaned back and focused on the young man, "I met your father when he was but 9 years old, young Skywalker. He was, like you, strong in the Force. I had never known seen such power, not even in myself or my Sith Master. The Jedi took him from Tatooine to be trained in the Jedi Temple on Imperial Center, then Coruscant."

He paused and waited courteously, expecting questions. But Skywalker's blue orbs stayed fixed on the old man's face, his mouth clenched.

"The Jedi had numerous rules against emotional attachments," Palpatine continued, his own eyes becoming dreamy with remembrance. "Almost all Jedi children were brought to the Temple as infants or toddlers, as soon as their Force abilities were known. Anakin Skywalker was ..."

"The Jedi took babies!?" Skywalker interrupted in shock. "From their parents?!"

The Emperor blinked, "Yes. I mean, no, not in the sense you mean. They didn't abduct the children. Their parents were convinced it was a great honor for their children to be Jedi, so they willingly gave them up."

Skywalker's Force sense became, if possible, even more horrified, "Did they visit their kids sometimes after they were taken by the Jedi?"

"Oh no. No, the Jedi had strong rules against attachments to parents and siblings in particular. Once a child was removed from his home and taken to the Temple, he never saw his biological family again."

The outrage and distress was so strong now that Palpatine raised his shields slightly.

"That is terrible!" the boy fumed, then looked suspicious. "Is that really true, or are you just making it up to turn me against the Jedi?"

Sidious blinked, "Um, no. I am not making it up. It was standard procedure. I've done my best, well Malvos and I have done our best, to stamp out the Jedi Order and its memory in the collective galactic consciousness, so I can't prove it easily, but I do have records on hand I can show you."

"So you really think it is terrible?" he continued curiously.

Luke shook his head incredulously, "Of course it is terrible! Kids ... babies, they know their parents, they know their siblings. It isn't right to just yank them from their biological families like that!"

"It isn't like they remember their families if they are taken early enough," Palpatine pointed out.

"I don't remember either of my parents, but I assure you that their lack of presence in my life has affected my own existence profoundly!" Skywalker snapped back. The boy's eyes widened a little even as his face drooped, "So if ... if Vader really is my father, then I guess he didn't want to bother with me since he was working for you ..."

"No, no, no," Palpatine interrupted irritably. "Just, no. He was insanely attached to your mother and he turned to the Dark Side to try to save her. But I told him he killed you and your mother so he thought you were dead all these years."

"Excuse me, what?!"

"See, he choked her ...," Sidious explained, then hesitated, "I'm telling this lamentably out of order. Let me pick up where your father was a child."

"Ok."

"The Jedi brought him to then Coruscant to train him. Anakin Skywalker was incredibly powerful in the Force. He was also very attached to his mother, who had been left on Tatooine as a slave."

"The Jedi left her in slavery?" Skywalker gasped in horror.

"Yes," Sidious said with a frown. "Stop interrupting me or I'll have died of old age before I'm finished."

"Ok," Skywalker muttered.

"Your father was remarkable. Well, he still is. He was a phenomenal pilot and learned how to use the Force with incredible ease. He was also never quite comfortable with the fellow Jedi younglings and padawans – Jedi apprentices – and for thoroughness, he was also incredibly whiny." Sidious added hastily as the young man opened his mouth, clearly to ask a question. "I had managed to get myself elected Chancellor of the Republic and I was a very busy man, but I always made time for Anakin. We had dinner together on occasion, and he frequently stopped by my office to discuss his life. I encouraged him to question the loyalty and wisdom of the Jedi in general and his master in particular. When his mother Shmi was murdered by Tusken Raiders on Tatooine and your father destroyed the Tusken's entire clan in revenge, he turned to me for comfort and processing. When he started having dreams of your mother dying in childbirth, he turned to me for help. And I guided him to turn to the Dark Side in a vain attempt to save her life."

Luke's face was pale again, "Grandmother Shmi. I knew that she ... she was killed by the sandpeople but I didn't know my father ..."

"Slaughtered the Tuskens? Yes, he did," Palpatine said with a slight smile. "Your father was truly low hanging jogan fruit for a Sith Lord – powerful, misunderstood, terrified of loss, consumed by anger when his loved ones were harmed, and so on. The Jedi practically handed him to me."

"To you, or to Malvos?" Skywalker asked shrewdly, his chin lifted defiantly.

The old man stared, then wilted slightly, "You are, of course, correct, young Skywalker. It was Malvos. He first pointed out your father to me and encouraged me both verbally and through our twin bond to focus on young Anakin. It's all very well for me to wax eloquent about the joys of turning Vader to the Dark Side, but I've lost a great deal as well. He and I could have genuinely been friends in the Light, I suppose. As it is, he sees me as a slave master and simultaneously loathes me and venerates me. And honestly, since we've wiped out most of the Jedi, your father and I are quite lonely. It is challenging being a powerful Force user and having few who can share our abilities and interests."

"I presume you can talk it over with your twin brother," Luke Skywalker said sarcastically.

Palpatine shook his head, "No, we don't. Because he put himself in a subservient position. I realize I don't really know my brother at all. All I do know is that I'm going to kill him."

Again, there was a surge of Force power and Sidious winced slightly.

"You're going to kill your own twin brother?" Luke demanded indignantly, rising to his feet.

"Yes, of course! He's manipulated and used me for decades!"

"And you've manipulated and used, I guess my father, and millions of other people! It sounds like he's had a lousy time of it before birth literally, with being born short a limb and your father preferring you! I'm not saying it was right what he's done - it's not - but killing your own twin isn't a healthy way to handle the complex family situation."

Darth Sidious stared at the young passionate face and shook his head in awe, "And that, young Skywalker, is all Padme Amidala."


	4. Chapter 4

_Main Docking Bay_

_Eclipse_

_In Orbit Around Imperial Center_

_16 hours later_

Darth Vader exited his TIE Advanced and dropped to the floor of the hanger, causing a thump which alarmed all the stormtroopers within range.

Good. He was glad they were frightened because he was frightened. They might as well be nervous since he was.

His master was acting strangely and any time Darth Sidious was out of routine, Vader suffered in some matter. First there had been the stomach virus, then the moof juice, then the food droids with the strange subroutines, then Sidious leaving for Tanray, then him returning within two days. And then, just to add the cream to the Dianoga doughnut, Vader's master had ordered him to fly immediately to_ Eclipse_ in his TIE Advanced, _not _by shuttle, immediately.

Something was clearly very very up. And that was not a good thing.

"The Emperor awaits you in his Throne Room," a random captain stated, quivering nervously.

Vader nodded without a word and strode toward the elevator. The red robed guards ignored him except to key in the required codes so he could use the lift. The door slid open and the tall cyborg stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close.

The ensuing rise was all too quick, and a long moment later the door slid open and Vader strode into the Throne Room, up a flight of stairs, and knelt on one knee before his Master. The old man was sitting on his throne facing the outer window, but he turned around now to face his apprentice.

Sidious was blank in the Force, which was also unnerving. He was shielding tightly and that was almost more frightening than unadulterated rage.

"Rise, Lord Vader," Palpatine ordered, getting to his feet and walking carefully toward the tall Sith. "I have a surprise for you."

Vader lifted his head and gazed at his master with uncertainty, "A surprise?"

To his astonishment, a smile broke across the Emperor's face. Palpatine rarely smiled and when he did, he usually looked both hideous and menacing. But this was a ... a ...

Vader did not know. Whatever that smile meant, it could not be good.

The elder Sith shuffled slowly over to a side door and carefully keyed in a code. The door slid open and Palpatine stepped in, followed by an uneasy Darth Vader.

The room they entered was large and lavish, complete with a black synthsilk covered bed and a viewport with its own private small throne. This was clearly Palpatine's private chambers on board the _Eclipse._

There was a movement in the corner and Vader turned to observe a young blond man, clad in tan fatigues, wearing a shock collar, rise to his feet and stare into his mask.

Into his _eyes_. That was odd. No one could find his eyes behind the black barrier.

The Emperor took a few more steps into the room, then reached out one clawed hand and a piece of ration bar on a nearby counter flew into his hand. He took one cautious bite and grimaced.

"It's softer if you dunk it in moof juice first, your Highness," the boy stated, though his (oddly familiar) blue eyes remained fixed on Vader.

"Ah, excellent idea," Sidious replied in what _sounded _like a cheerful tone. Vader watched in astonishment as a fresh bottle of moof juice flew into his master's hands. The elderly Sith opened it, held half of the ration bar in the orange liquid for a few seconds, then removed it and took a bite.

"It's still not great," the boy continued apologetically.

"It's the first solid food I've had in days," Palpatine replied in a pleased tone. "It tastes wonderful."

The tableau held for another minute as the Emperor chomped his way through the rest of the drenched ration bar. Vader just stood there, feeling bewildered.

"Excellent," Palpatine said. "Well, now that that is out of the way, let us get on with introductions. Lord Vader, this is your son, Luke Skywalker."

The floor beneath the cyborg seemed to shift under his booted feet, and he actually wobbled slightly before pulling himself together. What ... what was this? What new and horrifying torment did his master intend to inflict on him? Every memory of Padme and the child made him loathe himself with new and additional disgust and this ... this ...

The boy cleared his throat dramatically and bent what looked like a reproving look at the dark cloaked Sith.

"Your Highness, that wasn't very ..."

"Gentle? Tactful?" the Emperor replied. "Ah yes, I suppose not. I apologize, Lord Vader."

He _apologized_?

"Let me start at the beginning," Sidious continued, then paused and wrinkled his already wrinkled brow, then continued. "No, let me start with this. Your son is wearing a shock collar which is connected to my own biometrics. If my heart stops suddenly due to you, for example, chopping me in half, your son's head will be blown off by the collar."

There was a sudden yelp from the youth and Palpatine turned a patronizing gaze on him, "It's just self-protection, young Skywalker. Your father has every reason to be angry at me about this whole situation. It's not personal."

"It feels personal," the boy replied with a huff, "though I guess it is better than a transmitter chip."

Darth Vader did indeed feel his rage rising. Any mention of Padme and the child enraged him. Any mention of slave transmitter chips enraged him. The combination ...

But his confusion was sufficient to tamp down his outrage. Darth Sidious was truly acting in a bizarre manner. The boy couldn't be his son, because his child had died with his mother. Palpatine was up to something - it was unclear what exactly, but it was no doubt vicious and cruel.

"He really is your son, Lord Vader. I ordered the med droid to run a paternal test using his blood and your genetic data on file."

"How is that possible?" Vader asked quietly, glancing at the boy. The young man was, at least, a good pretender – roughly the right age, dark blond hair, blue eyes, cleft in the chin. Really the personification of Anakin Skywalker at that age, though he was short. What was the point of all this? Why torment him this way? Perhaps Sidious was insane now? Now that was a cheerful thought.

"Obviously Padme did not die on Mustafar," the old man replied with a shrug, even as he grabbed another ration bar from the counter and dipped it delicately into his moof juice. "She lived long enough to give birth." 

"You told me that ...,"

"In your anger, you killed her!" Sidious continued with a broad grin. "Of course I did. The last thing I needed was for my young apprentice to be sincerely attached to Senator Amidala, a beacon for democracy, and your mutual child! No, she had to go, of course and I no doubt would have ensured her demise if she'd lived, but in actual fact she popped up in a casket on Naboo within a few days and my agents ensured it really was her. I thought there was a good chance you actually did kill her at that point, but when I originally told you that, I was being deceptive since I didn't actually know what happened."

The various expensive knick knacks in the room began trembling and Palpatine stretched out his hand, causing them to stop.

"Now, now, Lord Vader," he stated reproachfully. "I'm just trying honesty for the first time in decades. Don't break my precious things."

"Your honesty is pretty hard core," the boy pointed out uneasily, his gaze still fixed on the cyborg Sith. "Why were you mad at, um, my mother?"

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, looked into that young face and his blackened heart twisted inside of him. Was it remotely possible that this ...

A moment later, the youth's Force presence bloomed into full strength and the former Anakin Skywalker took an involuntary step backwards. Young, untrained, _familiar_! The Presence he'd felt in the Death Star trench! The boy he'd seen with Kenobi on the Death Star!

"I was shielding him," Palpatine explained apologetically, "to keep him hidden from Malvos."

Darth Vader didn't know who Malvos was and he didn't give a rip at this moment. He took a few steps forward and gazed down at the boy with the Force power of the twin suns of Tatooine, with eyes exactly like ...

"What is this?" he rumbled, his fists clenching, his voice a mixture of fury and longing. "If this is true, where has he been for the last two decades?"

"Tatooine, I'm afraid," the old man commented apologetically. "He hasn't told me much else but that's a definite. Really brilliant of whomever was watching over him, no doubt one of the Jedi still on the loose ..."

"Kenobi," Vader rasped, and the room trembled again.

Luke's head had been shifting back and forth at this bizarre conversation, but now he was impelled to speak, "Considering that you cut him in half on the Death Star, I don't quite get your hatred of him now. Seems like you came out on top."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi left me for dead in the lava fields of Mustafar with 100% burns over my body. He condemned me to a life in this suit, sustained only by machinery. He cut off my three remaining limbs and then told me he loved me like a brother_. I hate him_!"

Luke took a horrified step backwards at this rush of unwanted information. Ben had ... Ben had ...

"He didn't tell me that," he muttered in a broken tone.

The door slid open and all three men turned toward the exit into the Throne Room.

The man who stood there was clad in a simple black robe and his eyes gleaming yellow.

"Malvos," Palpatine hissed.

_Author Note: Many thanks to those of you reviewing and following me and/or this odd little fic. And thanks to my wonderful editor and husband! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Emperor's bedroom_

_Eclipse_

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

"Malvos."

"Your Highness," the other robed man murmured, his head bowed slightly. "I was concerned ..."

"And well you should be," Palpatine spit out. "I have finally discovered your manipulation of me all these years through drugs and our Force Bond. It is over, my brother."

Darth Vader stared incredulously at the hooded man whose demeanor, not to mention blazing yellow eyes, revealed that his previous assessment about this individual was completely off track. He had known of the man named Vos for many decades but had thought him merely a servant in a role similar to Vanee, his personal attendant who served him slavishly.

"I must say, your Highness," the young prisoner stated thoughtfully, "he doesn't look much like you."

Why would Vos look like ...?

"No," Palpatine stated with gritted teeth and angry jaw, "we were born identical but thanks to my painful and destructive interaction with a Jedi named Mace Windu, my body was severely damaged. Malvos looks old, not decrepit."

Darth Vader, junior Sith Lord, crinkled his hidden brow and raised a shaky cyborg finger to point at the new arrival.

"Vos is your _brother_?" he demanded.

"Indeed," the man said with a gentle smile. "I am indeed Sheev's twin, born second, born weak, born with a missing left leg. I have been his supporter, and his servant, these many years, content to remain in the background to ensure his survival and health."

"That is rancor droppings," the Emperor snarled angrily. "You've been drugging me for decades, manipulating and using me."

"Drugging you?" Malvos replied, his face dark with sorrow. "My dear ... my dear Sheev, this is paranoia stemming, no doubt, from your recent illness. I know my place and I live to serve you."

Luke spoke up now, "The food droids wouldn't bring, um, the Emperor moof juice, Jogan fruit, or meilooroon. I did some poking around on the Holonet in the last 10 hours and all are very high in crystobol acid. I am guessing that the drugs you've used are countered by crystobol acid and that's why you programmed the droids to avoid those foods."

Malvos cocked his head and turned his gaze on the young prisoner, causing Vader to shuffle slightly closer to the young man. He was still mightily confused about the situation but if there was even a 1% chance that this boy was his son, he would protect him from ... his master's twin brother?

Incredible that he hadn't known the existence of a twin for so many years.

"Ah, the false young Skywalker," Malvos murmured aloud. "You have my apologies, Lord Vader, that my brother chose to harm you so terribly. I tried to stop him from murdering your wife but he would not listen to me, and now he is twisting the lightsaber in deeper by bringing in a pretender as your dead child. It is not well done, Sheev, even for you."

The Emperor's face creased in bewilderment, "I did not kill Padme! She died, but it had nothing to do with me."

"Nonsense, Sheev, nonsense," Malvos averred. "We are all reasonable men, or at least all but the young pretender. I know nothing of him. But surely you acknowledge that Lord Vader was dying and his wife still lived and they were bonded by the Force. Lord Vader is wise enough to understand that you used Padme's Life Force to sustain his own."

The elder brother stared at his twin in consternation, "I ... I did not do that."

His face blanked slightly and he looked up at the ceiling, "Did I?'

Vader turned toward his Master, his bewilderment morphing into rage. He took a step forward, "Did you, Master? Did you murder my Angel? You acknowledged you wanted her dead and I should have died from the burns. She was strong and healthy and if I didn't kill her, if I didn't kill her ..."

He trailed off. He was confused. The Dark Side of the Force, usually so strong and sharp and clear, was nebulous and roiling. There was so much going on here. A young man who looked like his long dead child. A twin brother of his master. Had he killed Padme? Or had Darth Sidious? Who was Malvos, really?

"I am afraid he did, Lord Vader," Malvos murmured in a soothing voice. "I was aware of what he was doing but I have always been the weaker twin, always dominated by my brother ..."

"So what did you mean that I am a false Skywalker?" the prisoner interrupted suddenly, stepping forward with his blue eyes narrowed.

An expression of anger briefly filled Malvos's visage, to be quickly wiped away by a fatherly expression, "My dear boy, you are no doubt very confused. My brother rejoices in manipulating others, and I'm afraid you are just another one of his many victims. If he told you that you are Lord Vader's son, than he is lying to you."

"Well, that might be true," the boy replied doggedly. "But I am Luke Skywalker. That is my name."

Malvos waved a few irritable fingers, "My brother told you that was your name."

"No, I have known since I was a child of 2 that I am a Skywalker," the youth replied steadily, taking a step closer. "I am the son of Anakin Skywalker, grandson of Shmi Skywalker. My uncle and aunt were Owen and Beru Lars. That is who I am."

Vader felt a surge of something like hope. Owen and Beru Lars! His stepbrother and, yes, his fiancé had been named Beru ... He shot a confused glance at the Emperor, who was oddly quiet. The old man was staring at his twin brother, his face still strangely slack.

"Well," Malvos continued, having gathered himself, "my brother has always excelled at the long game. You were no doubt installed specifically for this purpose, so that at the right time he could use you to control Lord Vader more adequately. I'm afraid Vader's Padme is dead, and his child with her, though it was my brother who killed her. You are merely a tool, young man, as hard as it is to believe. An unknown Imperial asset that my brother used for this specific purpose."

The boy lifted one sandy eyebrow, "Your brother must be pretty incompetent than, since this supposed asset of his blew up the Death Star."

There was a shocked pause and Malvos's eyes glowed bright yellow with rage, "What?!"

"I. Blew. Up. The. Death. Star!" the young one replied insolently.

Vader found himself again sidling slightly closer to the boy as he sensed the rage bloom to full strength in the man before him. Malvos had been shielding exceptionally well, but now the younger Sith could sense the great power of this man hidden behind a cloak and a vacuous face.

For a moment the boy and the man glared at one another, and then the evil twin let out a soft sigh and relaxed, "Nonsense."

"It is not nonsense," Vader stated, suddenly needing to clarify the situation. "I sensed him in the Death Star trench moments before it was destroyed. I would recognize that Force signature anywhere."

There was a blink from the old man before him and then Malvos shot a crafty look at his elder twin, "Well, Lord Vader, if this is indeed the Destroyer of the Death Star, Sheev's pet project for decades, then I hope for your sake that this is not your son. I hardly believe my brother will deal gently with him."

"Enough!" the elder Palpatine suddenly snapped. "Enough, Malvos. You have used your poisoned words and drugged foods and twin bond to control me for years but it ends now. I have no intention of harming the young Skywalker, at least not yet, not until I've dealt with you! I am inclined to order Vader to kill you now but the young one says I shouldn't murder my own twin brother so readily. Since my own moral sense has been twisted and deformed for years, I am willing to depend on his perspective for at least the moment. But for now, you will be taken to a prison cell and locked in securely."

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, stared at his master in disbelief. Moral code? What? Depend on the prisoner? What?!

"So be it, brother," Malvos snarled, lifting his hands.

A moment later, Force Lightning spewed from those hands towards his elder twin.

Sheev Palpatine gasped in astonishment and lifted his own hands. A moment later, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were treated to the astonishing sight of two old men standing a few meters apart, arcing vivid bolts of blue white lightning at one another. Luke jerked in surprise at the sight, then jerked again when Vader pushed him back a half meter. Given that some of the bolts were sparking off one another, moving away was a good idea.

After about a minute of this nonsense, both men lowered their hands even as they glared at one another.

"I would guess," the elder twin said irritably, "that we are very evenly matched but Lord Vader is my apprentice, not yours."

"You murdered his wife," Malvos pointed out slyly.

"If I did, it was at your behest," Sheev replied indignantly, glancing at Vader, "it is true that he was dying and somehow survived, but I have no memory of using Padme's Life Force in any way."

Vader looked first at one old man, then at another.

"Remember," Sheev murmured, touching his own neck.

The cyborg Sith shot a quick look at the boy who might be his son. Right. Shock collar which was connected to his Master's biometrics. Luke's head would be blown off if Emperor Palpatine died.

If it was true that this young man was his son, and if Vader wanted him to live (which he did. He did he did he did he did ...) then he had to support the elder Sith.

Vader rapidly drew his lightsaber and lit it, stepping forward carefully, his blade angled to repel a Force Lightning strike.

"Stand down," he rumbled to Malvos.

The other man smiled bleakly and shook his head, "I am disappointed in you, Lord Vader. You chose the wrong man. Ah well, the young prisoner is definitely a Force Sensitive and I can use him after you die."

Vader tensed at these fighting words and prepared for an attack but when the attack came, it was completely surprising. With horrifying suddenness, his cyborg systems shut down and he collapsed with a shocked groan to the ground.

"Vader!" Sheev Palpatine yelped in an alarmed tone. "What is happening?"

"Oh, you don't think I wasn't aware of the danger of your attack rancor, Sheev?" Malvos demanded, showing feral teeth. He lifted his right hand to display a controller. "I have had this with me for literally decades, always with me, just in case I had to deal with Vader in a permanent way. It will take him approximately 10 minutes to die from oxygen deprivation with his artificial lungs no longer working. And when I am finished with him, I will finish you, my brother."

The Emperor shot a horrified glance at the disabled heap of apprentice on the floor and reached out a hand and pulled with the Force.

His brother smirked, "My dear Sheev, I assure you that I am entirely capable of keeping it in my hand regardless of your Force power, and furthermore the controller is securely attached to my waist with a chain. No, he will die before your very eyes and ..."

"No!" the Emperor cried out, lifting his hands toward his brother. A moment later, Force Lightning arced toward his twin, to be returned fervently by his furious brother.

Again, the titans battled even as Darth Vader gasped for oxygen. He was dying, he knew that, and while even yesterday he would not have truly cared, now he did. He might have a son. He might have a son. He might have a son, and would die before getting to know him ...

There was a sudden shriek of horror and rage from Malvos. With great difficulty Vader lifted his head to stare at the old man, who was standing now with Force Lightning arcing all over his clothes and form. A moment later, Vader realized that the man was dripping from ... from ...

Luke hurriedly picked up another two liter bottle of moof juice and smashed it against Malvos's body. The bottle broke into a million shards of glass and the moof juice cascaded over his front, causing the Force Lightning tendrils to continue their way down the old man's body.

Malvos cried out in rage and tried to zap Luke, only to cause more tendrils to travel down his arms and torso along the rivulets of moof juice. In the midst of his agony and confusion at this sudden turn of events, he didn't notice the young prisoner's next move.

Darth Vader stared in disbelief as the boy (his son?) picked up a chair and smashed Malvos hard across the face. The old man fell to the ground, and the youth smashed him two more times on the face before dropping to his knees and studying the Darth Vader controller which was lying connected to Malvos's cloaked form.

Luke stared with consternation at the controller. He needed to make sure he pushed the right button to restart Vader. But which one? What should he do? It was a complex controller with lots of possible keys to push.

He closed his eyes, closed out the fear and confusion, and reached out to the Force which only responded quickly when he was either flying or fixing things.

Right now, he was trying to fix his (supposed) father.

He opened his eyes and pushed four buttons in quick succession.

Darth Vader's lungs switched on and the cyborg man took a deep, life giving breath of air.

/-

_Author Note: There is a movie called Zombieland which has a ton of bad language (so not not not for kids) but it is pretty funny. One of my favorite aspects of it was that one of heroes always would "double tap" when killing a zombie. He'd shoot it once, then shoot it again to make absolutely sure the zombie was dead. How many times do we see a movie where someone shoots a baddie once and a minute later the baddie revives enough to grab at an ankle or shoot the hero? I figure Luke's a practical fellow. If he smashed a bad guy in the face with a chair, he'll do it a couple more times so that said bad guy won't wake up enough to zap him with Force Lightning!_


	6. Chapter 6

_The Emperor's Private Quarters_

Eclipse

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

Luke dropped to the floor beside his supposed father.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked Vader worriedly. The terrifying, repetitive breathing had started up again, but the man wasn't moving much.

"I...I am well," the younger Sith gasped. "It will take some time for my suit to finish necessary diagnostics, but I can breathe. Tend to the Emperor."

Luke frowned even as he fingered his shock collar. The Emperor had seemed fine during the battle with his brother, but given that Luke's own head could be blown off if Palpatine's heart stopped, it would be wise to make sure the old man was all right.

He rose to his feet and walked rapidly over to the bed, where Palpatine was lying on his side, his rather spindly legs and feet sticking out from under the robe. Now that the youth was closer, he could see that the Emperor was even paler than usual, and that was saying a lot.

"Are you all right, your Highness?" he asked softly.

The green eyes opened and gazed at him blankly, "So tired. So so so tired..."

"Is it Ok if I move you into a more comfortable position?" Luke asked awkwardly. Leia was the expert on diplomacy and refinement; there were probably all kinds of esoteric rules about touching the Emperor that Luke knew nothing about.

"Yes," the old man replied feebly.

Luke nodded and carefully slipped his right arm under Palpatine's upper body and his left arm under the old man's knees. He carefully lifted and adjusted the aging despot so that his head was on his woolly shaak pillow and his body was laid neatly on the bed. Luke, channeling his Aunt Beru, carefully tucked the black synthsilk blanket around the thin form, then walked quickly over to the cooling unit to grab another bottle of moof juice. He noted peripherally that Vader, while still on the floor, was twitching in a more meaningful manner. That was probably a good thing.

He popped open the bottle and quickly returned to the elder man's side, carefully pouring some delicious orange goodness into the old man's mouth. The Emperor took a few cautious sips than pulled away.

"Good, good," he muttered. "A rest I need. A rest."

"Ok," Luke replied, placing the bottle on a black stand next to Palpatine's bed and screwing on the cap.

He straightened and turned in time to see Vader crawl the last centimeters to Malvos's crumpled form. The cyborg shakily reached out his right hand and touched the man's floppy head, turning it from side to side.

"How is he, do you think?" Luke asked nervously. Malvos looked pretty harmless but given the bizarre events of the previous hour, looks could be deceiving.

"He's dead," Vader stated coldly. His vocoder, at least, was back to normal now.

"What?!" Luke demanded incredulously, taking a step closer to both his (supposed) evil father and the traitorous twin brother of Palpatine. "What did you do to him?"

Vader rose carefully to his feet and bent his cold stare on his son, "I did nothing to him, young one. You killed him when you hit him with the chair. His neck is broken."

Luke actually wobbled slightly, his skin paling with horror. He stared first at the dead man on the floor, then turned to Palpatine who was gazing with half closed eyes at his deceased brother.

"Your Highness, I am so sorry," Luke gasped, his heart clenching with distress. "I...I didn't mean to kill him. I just ..."

"You did well, young Skywalker," Sheev murmured with a wave of one hand. "He would have killed me and your father, and you by extension. He had to die."

"He was your twin!" Luke choked out in horror. "And you...you were as powerful as he was if not more. I ... I didn't mean..."

"He would have beaten me," the old man continued, his voice dropping such that Luke had to strain to hear. "So many years he dominated over me. I was weakening..."

Palpatine trailed off and his eyes closed the rest of the way, his breathing steady, his narrow chest lifting up and down.

"He needs to sleep," Vader stated. "Let us go to the Throne Room to discuss the situation."

"Shouldn't we do something about, uh, the body?" Luke asked uneasily even as he obediently moved toward the giant Sith. He had killed the Emperor's secret twin brother who had tried to kill both Vader and Palpatine and weren't their burial customs from Naboo, the Emperor's home world and yuck, a decaying corpse on the floor was just nasty and wouldn't the Emperor be upset when he woke up and there was a dead body...?

"He is quite used to bodies," Vader stated matter-of-factly. Luke shivered openly.

"Can you read my mind?" he demanded.

The giant mask tilted as the dark gaze seemed to bore into his very soul.

"You shield abysmally, young one," the bass voice stated dispassionately. "Come."

Luke winced but walked over to the door, which slid open obediently as he reached it. While he had been worried about his (supposed) father dying, the man's rapid recovery from near asphyxiation was rather unnerving.

Vader followed him out into the Throne Room and strode to the great transparisteel window beyond the Emperor's royal seat. Luke cautiously slipped into position next to him, then turned his gaze onto the glittering city planet hovering in near space.

He found himself gasping like the naïve Outer World farmboy that he was. He'd seen many planets since he'd torn out of Tatooine on the _Millennium Falcon_ more than 6 months ago, but he'd never seen an ecumenopolis like this one. The population must be in the hundreds of billions.

"Where are we?" he blurted out to Vader, who was staring at him intensely.

"Imperial Center," the bass voice rumbled.

Luke grimaced. The very heart of the Empire. The very center.

"Oh," he replied lamely.

"Tell me about yourself," Vader ordered.

Luke called up every iota of defiance and lifted his chin, "I'm not telling you anything about the Alliance."

"I care not about your pitiful Rebellion," the Dark Lord replied irritably. "My Master claims you are my son. That seems quite impossible."

"I'm not arguing that with you," Luke replied drily.

The two glared at one another and then Luke allowed his posture to relax slightly. He believed it. Mostly. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had been cagey about his father all his life. Ben Kenobi had been downright weird. The Emperor said he was Vader's son and a med droid seemed to back it up. There was one other test he could perform and if Vader passed it, well...

He spoke in the old Tatooine slave language now, his tongue moving through the familiar cadence taught by his Aunt Beru, who had in turn learned the words from his grandmother Shmi.

"_My name is Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker, grandson of Shmi Skywalker, nephew of Owen and Beru Lars. That is who I am."_

And Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, found himself replying in the same language as long forgotten memories stirred in the dim recesses of his own mind, of days at his mother's side, of nights in her loving care.

"_I am Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, son of Shmi Skywalker, husband to Padme Naberrie Skywalker, father of...of Luke Skywalker,_" Vader replied in a hushed tone. "_That is who I am."_

/-

"I love you, Sheev."

Sheev Palpatine felt his eyes grow wet even as he shook his head, "Don't die, Mama. Don't die."

The skeletal woman held out a thin hand and grasped her elder son's arm, "My time has come, dear Sheev. I will not survive the night."

The tears fell freely now even as the boy shot a worried look at the door. His father had been more and more absent as his wife's prognosis shifted from grim to dire. But if he came in now, he would never let his elder son and heir forget the tears.

"_Men don't cry, boys do."_

"Tell him to take care of me, Mama."

Madra Palpatine turned her head to her younger son and held out her other hand, "I want both my boys to take care of each other, but you will need to brave and strong, Malvos. You will need to make your own way."

Sheev jerked in surprise. That wasn't how this memory played out...

"No, you must take care of me, Sheev," Malvos chanted, his face shifting from that of a winsome 12 year old youth to that of an 80 year old man. "You owe it to me, Sheev. You owe me. Father loved you, Mother died. You owe me, you owe me, you owe me..."

Palpatine's eyes jerked open and he found himself gasping for breath.

"_You owe me, Sheev. You owe me."_

That mantra had been hovering in his subconscious for decades, the result, he had thought, of his mother's last words that he was responsible for his younger brother. But had Malvos successfully suppressed his mother's dying words? Had Madra Palpatine wanted her sons to support one another instead of Sheev caring for Malvos?

The old Emperor's gaze shifted to the crumpled body on the floor. Malvos was dead, and his poisonous words and deeds had died with him. Sheev Palpatine was now free to pursue his own life. But what did he want? He still had the power of the Dark Side at his fingertips (literally, he discovered, as he absently arced some Force Lightning from his yellowed nails) but the Dark Side was...

It was lonely.

He sighed and leaned back in his bed, closed his eyes, reached out through the Force. Vader and the young Skywalker were next door, and Palpatine watched in awe and some envy as the Force Bond between them strengthened in his mind's eye. Dark and Light, yes, but father and son. Bonded. Together (and here he shivered a little) they would be unstoppable if they joined forces against him.

But that might not happen. Dark and Light could not work together well so one would have to shift to the other side and the young Skywalker was truly a blazing beacon in the firmament of the Force, the central star in a planetary system of others whom were also bonded more or less to the young man. Not that any would be as close to the young Skywalker as Vader. Except for...

Well, that was odd.

/

_30 minutes later_

"I once flew my T-16 right through the Stone Needle in Beggar's Canyon," Luke said, his eyes wide with awe. "But you pod raced the Boonta Eve Classic? And won? That's just _amazing!_"

"Anakin Skywalker flew the Boonta Eve, and won," Vader replied uncomfortably.

Luke actually rolled his eyes, "Ok, whatever. You are obviously an amazing pilot. I mean, the best. Old Ben used to say you were the best starfighter in the galaxy."

"Old Ben?"

"Um, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He went by Ben Kenobi on Tatooine."

Vader bit his lip hard to prevent himself from lashing out. That his old enemy had spent 19 years with his son while he suffered alone was more than he could bear.

"He helped raise you," the Sith stated through gritted teeth.

The boy looked surprise at this, "No. I hardly knew him. Uncle Owen disliked and distrusted him. I met him a few times and he rescued me a couple of times when I did something stupid out in the desert, but mostly he kept to himself."

The hidden hairless eyebrows lifted in surprise, "Owen is a wise man."

"_Was_ a wise man," Luke snapped back. "He and Aunt Beru were slaughtered by Imperial stormtroopers searching for the Death Star plans. I came home to find their smoking..."

He trailed off and turned away, embarrassed at the tears forming in his eyes. He had loved them so much and they were gone forever and he hadn't even been there for them when they needed him most. Not that he could have done anything. He would have died with them. But still...

Darth Vader stared at his son. The boy's emotions were a cauldron of grief and guilt and some anger. But there was no incandescent rage, no flirting with the Dark Side. Nothing close to the fury of young Anakin Skywalker when his mother had died at the hands of the Tuskens.

The child looked like Anakin Skywalker, but Padme's sweet spirit shone through.

He opened his mouth to say something, he didn't know what, when the door to the Emperor's private suite opened.

Father and son turned to face the door, Luke quickly wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"You are awake, Master," Vader commented unnecessarily.

Palpatine nodded, his face thoughtful, and made his way over to his throne, which he sank onto with relief. He still felt like he'd been beaten by a pair of Gamorrean guards on a drinking binge.

"So I just found out something quite amazing," he stated abruptly. "Young Skywalker, you have a twin!"


	7. Chapter 7

_Emperor's Throne Room_

_Eclipse_

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

"So I just found out something quite amazing," the Emperor stated abruptly. "Young Skywalker, you have a twin!"

There was a blank pause of twenty seconds while father and son stared in disbelief. Finally, Vader managed to choke out "What?" even as Luke yelped, "Huh?"

They glanced at one another and then back at the old man leaning against his costly, exceptionally comfy throne.

"A twin, young Skywalker, a twin," Palpatine repeated impatiently. "I was just spending some time studying the firmament of the Force and found a twin bond between you and someone. Quite a surprise, I assume."

"I ... I ...," Luke sputtered even as he shook his head slowly. "Wouldn't I know if I had a twin?"

"You didn't know your father was alive," the elder Sith pointed out patiently. "Trust me, young Skywalker, you have a twin. If there is anyone in the galaxy who knows about Force bonds between twins, it is me. And given the events surrounding your birth, it makes all too much sense. You were clearly separated from your twin and he was sent one place, you to another, to protect you both from both me and your father. Kenobi was probably behind it all."

"He?" Luke demanded, focusing on the pronoun.

"Or she," Palpatine replied with a wave of one skeletal hand. "I suggest you have a brother because it is mostly likely. If you have an identical twin, obviously he is male. If you have a fraternal twin, there is a 50% chance that your twin is male. I sense the bond is currently active so you know your twin in your present life, and the Alliance has a disproportionate number of males versus females. Thus, you probably have a brother."

"If my son has a twin," Vader pronounced, "the child is female."

Luke turned his head to gaze at his father with wonder, even as Palpatine scowled slightly. He didn't like being openly contradicted. But then maybe that was part of being an overbearing, evil master? Perhaps he should be more open to dissension. Hmmmm...

"Why do you say that?" he inquired courteously, firmly moving his hands to his sides so he would not absentmindedly hurl Force Lightning at Vader.

The hulking Sith stared first at his Master, then at Luke, then turned to walk over to the window which now showed the star field of the Minos Cluster.

"My wife ... my Padme," he managed to croak. "She was certain the child was a boy, and I was equally certain the child was a girl. I _knew _that my child was a daughter. If indeed she bore me twins, there must be both a girl and a boy. It would explain how we both felt ... it would show that we were both right."

Luke stared in shock at the man who was his sire. This was just so weird. Vader seemed more machine than man and he was obviously a cruel, vicious murderer, but there was real emotion in that mechanical vocoder, and real grief.

"Did you love her?" he asked softly.

Palpatine huffed, "I told you he was very attached to your mother, young one."

"I want to hear it from him," Luke replied stubbornly, his eyes fixed on his father's black cloak.

"She was my whole world," Darth Vader admitted, turning to face his son, his own eyes fixed on the young face. "When she died, all that was worth living for in this galaxy was lost to me. I had only ..."

He trailed away and looked at Palpatine, who shrugged, "Me. I find this rather extraordinary, Lord Vader. You and I are both being very honest with one another today."

"The tapestry of the Force has changed with the death of your brother, my Master," Vader replied solemnly.

"Indeed."

Luke waited patiently for a full two minutes while the two Sith Lords gazed at one another as if lost in their own complex, silent dialogue.

"You will watch over him, Lord Vader," Palpatine said finally. "I'm very tired and need a long rest. But his shock collar stays on. I may be rethinking my devotion to the Dark Side, but I'm not stupid. The last thing I need right now is you taking my head off."

"Very well," Darth Vader replied, then lifted a cyborg finger to point accusingly at his master. "But you are not permitted to have a heart attack and die in your sleep."

"As you wish, my friend."

/-

_Temporary Officer's Quarters_

_C Deck_

_30 minutes later_

"We should attempt to identify your sister," Darth Vader intoned.

Luke, who had been prowling around his new quarters uneasily, looked up with surprise, "Do you really think that I have a twin?"

The Sith turned to gaze in astonishment at his son, then remembered that the boy apparently knew almost nothing about the Force.

"My master is the most powerful Force user in the galaxy, and he has vital experience with twin bonding."

"How do you know he didn't make up the twin to keep us apart?" Luke demanded.

Vader frowned beneath his mask, "What do you mean?"

Skywalker tilted his head as he struggled to put his thoughts into words, "I'm a Rebel. I'm also your son. The Emperor hasn't gotten where he is without being aware of possible threats to his life and rule. I'm definitely going to be more likely to side with you than him because you're my father. But if I have a twin, then that pulls me away from you. It means there is another family member out there. So maybe he made up the whole thing to prevent our bonding to the point that it is dangerous to him."

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, stared incredulously at his son. The boy looked so much like Anakin, but ...

"That is insight worthy of your mother, my son."

Luke started and blushed slightly, "Can you tell me about her? Please?"

Vader went rigid and shook his head, "Later, perhaps. She ... she was my star, my angel, and I ..."

He allowed four cycles of breathing to pass before turning back to the original subject, "I sense in the Force that you may indeed have a twin sister. We should identify her."

"Even if we could, why should I? She's probably a Rebel and hates your guts."

"Or she is on Tatooine."

Luke frowned at this as he thought hard, "I really don't think ... there weren't very many women my age on Tatooine that I knew. Camie, maybe?"

He mulled this over and shook his head, "No. I remember she was only a toddler when I was 5. Her family came over to the farm and I was climbing the walls and she was upset because she couldn't follow me. It couldn't be her. And really, there is no one else. If I really do have a twin and I'm bonded to her, than she is with the Alliance. And probably loathes you to the Maw and back."

Vader shrugged this off, "It matters not. If she is with the Alliance, then she is in danger. Surely you must see that."

"And she'd be safer here, getting in between you and Palpatine?"

Another glimmer of Padme.

"Are there any women your age in the Alliance to whom you are close?" Vader demanded.

Luke rolled his eyes, "No. I mean, yes. Leia Organa."

"Leia Organa?"

"Yes, you know, the Princess? Daughter of the Ruling House of lost Alderaan? The woman you tortured for hours!?"

There was real indignation here, anger even, though the youth was not tapping into the Dark Side. But it was clear that his son was attached to the Rebel princess, which was not a good thing. Leia Organa was beautiful, passionate, fiery, brave, and devoted to the Rebel cause. It was most regrettable that his boy was closely connected to a woman who ...

Darth Vader frowned. Wait a moment.

He strode quickly over to a nearby terminal and keyed in his private code. After an irritating delay as the system connected properly, he accessed the file on Leia Organa.

"What are you doing?" Luke demanded, striding over to stare at the screen. "Obviously Leia is not my twin sister. We know who her parents are!"

"I seem to remember," Vader murmured absently, "yes, here it is. The princess was adopted."

Luke blinked at the screen, then turned to blink at his father, "But surely you don't think Leia is ... is my twin. And your daughter?"

Darth Vader hadn't felt guilty about anything except the attack on Padme for at least a decade, but he experienced a flash of horrified dismay that felt like guilt. But Luke was right, it couldn't be.

"It says here that her Life Day is right around the formation of the Empire," Luke said with wide eyes, "the same as me!"

The youth shook his head slightly to clear it, "But still, she doesn't look anything like me. I mean, don't twins usually look somewhat like one another?"

Vader hesitated, then leaned forward to access a very secret, hidden file, a file he'd not opened in more than 15 years. A file which broke his heart.

"Who is that?" Luke demanded.

"That is your mother, Padme Naberrie Skywalker."

Luke blinked at the holo, then turned to gaze at his father, "Leia looks so much like her."

"Yes."

"Does that mean, could that mean ...?"

"I do not know, my son."

"What is going on here?!" a voice demanded from behind them.

Vader and Luke spun around and focused startled gazes on the translucent blueish form which had manifested near the refresher door.

"Obi-Wan!" Vader breathed aloud.

_Author Note: Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Luke's Quarters_

_The Eclipse_

_In Orbit Around Imperial Center_

"Obi-Wan."

"Ben?" Luke chimed in after his father, his blue eyes wide with shock. "Is that really you?"

"Luke? Vader has you?" the ghostly apparition demanded, his face becoming (if possible) even more pale in the artificial light of the room. "This is bad. This is very, very bad."

"Why didn't you tell me that Vader is my father?" Luke demanded angrily, stepping forward with a fearsome scowl.

Kenobi flinched noticeably and retreated a spectral step, "Who says he is?"

"I do," father and son said simultaneously.

"He knows the old slave tongue and the Words of Naming," Luke stated indignantly. "He is my father."

Obi-Wan ran a weary hand across his face, "19 years on that blasted sandbox and I am still completely lost about the cultural complexities of Tatooine. All right, yes, Darth Vader was once Anakin Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker was your father."

Luke blinked as he parsed these words in his own mind, "So you're really saying that he is not my father, because he's not Anakin Skywalker anymore?"

"I am no longer Anakin Skywalker," Vader thundered, "but I am indeed Luke's father. How dare you keep me from my own son for all these years?"

"And how are you here, anyway?" Luke continued, his tone a mixture of perplexity and indignation. "You're all dead!"

Kenobi scowled, "Yes, I'm dead, and I can and will disappear if you keep yelling at me! I'm the one asking the questions here! What just happened? The whole fabric of the Force suddenly twisted toward the Light! Everything is totally weird here in the Force After Life!"

"Force After Life?" Vader boomed incredulously

"Well, Malvos died," Luke chimed in at the same moment.

"So you are saying that the Jedi have succeeded in solving death itself?" the Sith demanded indignantly.

"He was Palpatine's twin brother and was controlling the Emperor," Luke explained helpfully. "That's probably why things are weird. Maybe?"

"Impossible! Only through the Dark Side can someone exist beyond death," Vader averred.

"And Palpatine is rethinking his whole life now," Luke continued.

"Is Padme there with you?" Vader asked, suddenly plaintive.

Kenobi, who had been looking back and forth between the giant cyborg and the young man lifted his hands to cover his ghostly ears, "Stop! You are both talking at once. I'm old and I don't hear as well as I used to. I don't understand what you are saying about Palpatine. What?!"

"He had an identical twin brother named Malvos," Luke explained impatiently. "Malvos was controlling him through their twin bond and lots of drugs. Fortuitously, the Emperor got sick and started drinking untainted moof juice, so the drugs cleared from his system and he realized his brother was controlling him. So then we were all together and Malvos attacked both Father and the Emperor. I threw moof juice on him while he was throwing lightning, which electrocuted him, and then I hit him with a chair and broke his neck. Now Malvos is dead."

Obi-Wan Kenobi stared at Luke, his jaw hanging open so widely that a phantom green bug suddenly appeared in his immediate space and flew into his mouth. The old dead Jedi began coughing, eyes wide, before spitting out the insect, which flew off with an irritated buzz before disappearing again.

"Twin brother?" he stuttered. "Palpatine had a ... a ..."

"Yes," Luke replied with a roll of his eyes. "Try to keep up, Ben. His evil twin brother Malvos was controlling him. Now Palpatine is thinking about giving up the Dark Side."

"Giving up the Dark Side ...," Obi-Wan mouthed in bewilderment.

"Because it wasn't really his choice to be a Sith in the first place," the young man explained. "I mean really, it isn't good at all to rampage around destroying the galaxy when it's not even your decision in the first place."

"Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will ..."

"And if you start quoting Yoda," Vader thundered, "I will choke the life out of you, ghost or not!"

"Who is Yoda?" Luke demanded.

"Is Leia Organa of Alderaan my daughter and Luke's twin sister?" the cyborg questioned angrily.

Kenobi stumbled back a few phantom steps, his eyes wide with horror, "How did you, how did you ...?"

He vanished.

"I think that means the answer is 'yes'," Luke stated after a moment. In spite of the serious nature of the moment, he smiled slightly, "I think we kind of broke him, and I don't care. He should never have lied to me. Not to mention, wow, I mean, Leia's gorgeous and my age, obviously, and ..."

Vader winced openly, "Don't tell me that you have, er, romantic inclinations towards your sister!"

"No, no, no," Luke shot back quickly. "She ... no, I realized early on that we were great friends but ..."

He trailed off, thinking, then continued thoughtfully, "I think in some ways I always felt protective about her. Not that I thought we were twins. How weird is that?"

"That is good, my son," Vader replied, relief coloring his bass voice.

"You know what isn't good?" Luke demanded. "You tortured her for hours. You blew up her planet. She hates your guts. Our family is really messed up."

Darth Vader flinched at his son's accusing words. It was true. He had tortured the princess in an attempt to uncover the location of the Rebel base and Leia Organa had, at the tender age of 19 standard years, resisted him. He was a fool. How had he not seen her incredible resemblance to his dead Angel?

Well, it was really Obi-Wan's fault, wasn't it? He had hidden the twins from him. If he had known his children lived ...

No, it just wasn't working. Usually, he could derlac whistle up intense rage at his former master but it just wasn't happening today. He felt astonished, incredulous, horrified, untethered, and guilty. But somehow, with Palpatine's shift of view had come one of his own.

It was his own fault, all of it. He had choked Padme before Kenobi's very eyes. The man could hardly be blamed for worrying that he would harm his own children.

"I deeply regret harming your sister," he finally said aloud. He gazed at his son, noting the furrows in the young forehead. The boy's Force sense was a tumult of confusion and distress, plus the child was hungry and tired.

"Let us find some food for you, young one, and then you should get some rest."

/

_Emperor Palpatine's bedroom_

_Eclipse_

_3 hours later_

Sheev Palpatine sat up suddenly in terror, his heart pumping rapidly, his breath rapid. His mind clung to the dream, of his worn body traversing a maze of mirrors, some reflecting his own face but some with Malvos's malevolent visage. He hadn't been able to get out of the maze. He'd been trapped ...

"Nightmare?" a voice inquired politely from a meter away.

The Emperor jumped in distress and turned to face the form seated on a nearby chair. The old man's face tightened in shock and surprise.

"Jinn?"

"Yes, indeed," the long dead Jedi replied with a smirk.

Palpatine sat up straighter and used the Force to place a sturdy pillow behind his aged back.

"Caves of Eleuabad," he murmured irritably. "Here Plagueis was babbling away that he'd figured out how to conquer death with the Dark Side and the Jedi actually did it. It figures."

Jinn looked startled at these words, but nodded, "It is true. It took seeking wisdom and devoted study and quite a bit of energy but yes, I managed it. Obviously."

Sheev's eyes narrowed into outraged slits even as he rolled carefully to his feet and stalked over to the dead heap of brother on the floor.

"Did you hear that, Malvos?" he asked rhetorically. Because his brother was, after all, very deceased. "It was all for nothing. All the scheming, all the pain, all those boring hours listening to Anakin whine – in the end, you're dead and my body is a mess. What was the point?"

Jinn appeared to his right side, his right hand tugging at his ephemeral beard, "I must admit, Sidious, this is not at all what I expected when I found myself able to visit you. Kenobi just had a talk with his former apprentice and the young Skywalker and told me about your, er, twin brother, but he was quite discombobulated by the discussion. In fact, he was stuttering so badly I had trouble understanding him. Are you really considering the possibility that the Light Side is preferable to the Dark?"

Palpatine scowled and wandered off to poke around in his cupboards, "Perhaps, Master Jedi, perhaps. I find it very unsettling that I was controlled all these years by my twin and that I'm the one that suffered while he reaped the rewards of my rule."

"Some people might say that being Emperor of the galaxy is reward enough," Qui-Gon pointed out honestly.

"Look at me, Jinn, look at me! I'm a wreck!"

"True."

"And I'm lonely. Everyone fears me or hates me, or a combination thereof. No one likes me."

"Also true."

"There it is!" Palpatine suddenly crowed, pulling out a holocam and shuffling over to Malvos. A moment later, he began taking numerous holos of his dead brother's face and still form.

"What are you doing?" Jinn demanded incredulously.

"I need holos of his dead body before I have it hauled away to be incinerated," Sidious explained briskly. "I keep having nightmares of him, and I want a collage of his corpse playing on my 'puter while I sleep so when I wake up I can quickly assure myself that he is dead."

"That's not creepy," Jinn muttered softly.

Palpatine heard him and his face drooped slightly, "It is, isn't it? I have no idea how a normal person behaves. What am I going to do?"

/-

_The Emperor's Throne Room_

_The Eclipse_

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

_8 hours later_

"This looks delicious," Sheev Palpatine said happily, gazing down at this plate with medium well done bantha steak, its edges oozing with clear juices.

"It does," Luke agreed from a small table to one side, "I haven't had a freshly butchered bantha steak in several years. There is nothing better."

"Especially since I've been living on moof juice and ration bars," the Emperor stated with a nod, even as he picked up a shaker on one side of his plate.

"What is that?" Luke asked curiously.

"Meat tenderizer. My teeth are a lot older than yours and will struggle with bantha meat."

"Are you sure Malvos didn't drug your meat tenderizer?" Luke asked as he briskly cut his steak into reasonable bites. He sensed rather than heard Vader shuffling slightly closer and shot him a puzzled glance. The cyborg's eyes were hidden but Luke somehow knew that his father was staring at his knife. The youth huffed slightly. As if he was going far with a measly bantha steak knife ...

Gungan imprecations interrupted his hyperspace lane of thought and Luke lifted his gaze just in time for Palpatine to hurl the offending shaker across the room.

"I hate this!" the old man snapped. "You are completely correct, young Skywalker. It might be drugged. So might my shampoo and my bath lotion!"

Luke's eyes widened about the bath lotion but he spoke soothingly, "If I may, your Highness, can I suggest you cut the meat into tiny chunks? I had a friend whose grandfather had lost all his teeth but he was able to eat well cooked bantha steak if the pieces were tiny."

Palpatine sighed and nodded, "Very well. That is good advice."

Luke shot a doubtful look at his father, who continued to loom menacingly with his gaze fixed on his son, "I assume, er, Father, that you don't eat bantha steak?"

The temperature of the room seemed to drop a few degrees and Luke shivered slightly under the basilisk stare.

"No," the Dark Lord ground out. "I subsist on protein pastes and electrolytic solutions. My body was so damaged by the fires of Mustafar that I am unable to breathe without significant support, and my digestive tract is permanently and irrevocably damaged."

"Well, I'm not sure about that," Palpatine replied, eyeing his small piece of bantha steak before shoving it into his mouth. A moment later, he closed his eyes in pure bliss.

"What do you mean, your Highness?" Luke asked nervously. He had almost no training in the Force but he could sense the tension in this room.

"Malvos and I were afraid of your father, young Skywalker," Sidious explained. "Terrified, even. Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, has the highest midichlorian count ever seen."

"Midichlorians?"

"You really don't know anything about Force Sensitivity, do you?" the Emperor replied, though not unkindly. "We'll explain that later. In any case, it was in our best interests that your father be permanently injured so that he wouldn't easily overpower us. Your father's treatment after the Mustafar battle was 2nd rate, maybe even 3rd rate ..."

"What?" Vader hissed angrily, taking an ominous step forward.

"It was rotten," Palpatine stated firmly. "Terrible. Deliberately so. Your injuries were horrific but you could have experienced significant improvement if you had been treated properly. Still can be, I would think. Medical technology has advanced in the last two decades, after all."

Luke stood up and moved boldly between his enraged father and the still seated Emperor.

"So can we make that a priority?" he asked sincerely, his blue eyes glimmering with hope. "Can we help my father regain some of his health?"

The Emperor stared thoughtfully at his apprentice, then at the youth, and a sincere smile graced his wrinkled features.

"Certainly, young one. Certainly."


	9. Chapter 9

_The Eclipse_

_6 hours later_

Darth Vader roamed the hall of the_ Eclipse_ in a haze of confusion, irritation, and anxiety. He thrived on certainty, on routine. Nothing was routine right now. He had a living son and daughter. His old master was alive beyond the grave. His current master was ... insane?

"Lord Vader."

He turned and found himself staring directly into the eyes of a dark clad captain who was as tall as he was. No, he was slightly taller!

He found his mouth hanging open behind his mask. There were Wookiees as tall as Vader, and the random Pitrillistian and occasional Gungan, but a human?

"Lord Vader," the officer repeated carefully. "His Royal Highness wishes you to attend him in his private chambers at your convenience."

"Very well," the Sith replied, took a step away, then turned. "You are very tall, Captain ..."

"Vitra, my lord," the man replied with a slight smile. "Others have said that as well. It has proven inconvenient on occasion, sir."

"One is prone to hitting one's head in doorways," the Sith muttered irritably.

"And on the ceilings of shuttles, sir."

"I am always having to peer down at other sentients. My neck aches."

"I have trouble finding clothes."

The two men, one cyborg, one human male, exchanged sympathetic glances before Vader nodded and marched toward the Emperor's chambers.

It was a full minute later that he realized he had just had a quite normal conversation with a fellow human being.

/-

_The Emperor's bedroom_

_The Eclipse_

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

Vader strode into his Master's bedroom and came to a shuddering halt. The first horrifying shock was that his master was lying face down on his bed, wearing only pants and socks, and was having his back and neck massaged by a med droid.

The second shock was the lightning scorch marks on the old man's back. He had obviously been faltering under Malvos's attack when Luke came to the rescue.

The third shock was that a full quarter of his master's large and opulent bed was covered with, with ...

"Lord Vader," Palpatine muttered huskily. "Thank you for coming. Just another minute, I believe ... Ouch!"

"My apologies, your Highness," the med droid replied in a mellifluous voice.

"Not at all, not at all," the old man said cheerfully. "Ugh ..."

"The 30 minutes are complete now, your Highness."

"Thank you."

Vader stood, jaw slack, as the med droid fussily tidied up the room and scooted out, while the Emperor retrieved his cloak and wrapped himself up in it.

"Do you like any of them in particular, Lord Vader?" the Emperor asked with an impish smile.

"Um ..."

Vader started, realizing that he had forgotten to kneel. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"No, no, my friend," the Emperor scolded, rising to his feet and walking over to his kneeling apprentice. "None of that now. Our lives are sufficiently discombobulated that I believe we should take a week long break from our master and apprentice relationship. What do you think?"

"A break?" Vader repeated numbly, rising to his feet.

"Yes!" the old man replied brightly. "I find myself quite irritable that my brother was effectively enslaving me all these years, and I fear that in a way, I have enslaved you."

The great fists clenched and Sidious eyed the giant worriedly, "My apologies. I suspect those are, er, fighting words given your childhood. Would you like a bantha plushie?"

Vader gazed in disbelief at the soft stuffed animal which was now hovering in the air in front of him.

"They are smelly creatures," he replied blankly.

"Perhaps a rancor? Or a fathier? A starbird?"

Vader's gaze shifted over to the some three dozen plush animals sitting in neat rows on Palpatine's bed.

"There are certainly many options," he rumbled in an uncertain tone.

"Indeed," Sidious replied, calling a humbaba plushie into his hands and gazing down at it fondly. "My mother, bless her soul, used to buy plushies for me and Malvos for each birthday. I was 8 when my father stated angrily that I was too old for such things. He took all my plushies and he ... he burned them! He burned my plushies!"

A few sparks of Force Lightning leaped from the old man's fingertips and Vader shuffled back a cautious step.

Palpatine grimaced, "My apologies, Lord Vader. Won't you sit down? I had a large chair brought in here just for you."

The younger Sith found himself sitting on a sturdy seat with a starbird plushie in his hand. This day was just getting weirder by the minute.

"So the boy sleeps," Palpatine murmured in a faraway tone.

"Yes."

"You're a father, Lord Vader. Congratulations!"

"Er, thank you?"

The old man leaned back and smiled slightly, "I rather like your son, Lord Vader. He is blunt and rather naïve in ways, but he has a kind heart. He saved your life, and mine."

"He destroyed the Death Star."

Had his master forgotten that? His son was a Rebel! Surely ...

"And maybe it deserved to be destroyed," Sheev Palpatine riposted, calling a bottle of (undrugged) blue milk into his hand. "I don't know."

"You don't ... know?"

How could this be? The Dark Side. The Empire!

"The Empire must maintain control in order to bring peace to the galaxy," he rumbled desperately.

Palpatine frowned thoughtfully and leaned back, his hands carefully squishing the humbaba plushie in his hand, "That is certainly what Malvos said through me, yes."

"We destroyed Alderaan, my daughter's homeworld, for your Empire! I tortured her!"

The old man froze, his eyebrows lifted in astonishment, "You have identified your other child?"

Vader bit his lip, relishing in the pain which somehow mitigated 2.5% of his guilt, "Princess Leia Organa."

The wave of astonishment broke upon his shields like a breaker upon a reef and Palpatine's expression was one of wonder, awe, and then understanding.

"I should have known," the old man muttered. "I should have. She's the very image of her mother with Padme's political acumen and fire ..."

Darth Vader hated mentions of Padme's name. Hated them.

"We destroyed the Jedi Order. We razed entire worlds to solidify the power of your Empire," he stated angrily. "I murdered younglings at your command! Are you saying it was all for nothing? That I sold my soul ..."

He trailed away. It could not be for nothing. It couldn't. He had turned on the Jedi to save her and then she was lost, and he thought, the child with her, and all that was left was Palpatine and his Empire.

There was a pause as Palpatine stared at the younger man, his expression thoughtful.

With a grunt, Sidious leaned back in his chair, "Have you heard of the Great Conflagration to the north of the Gallo Mountains on Naboo some five decades ago?"

Vader blinked in bewilderment, "No."

The old man sighed, "Lightning strikes ignited fires in the northern forests, just a few at first, but soon the fires spread, resulting in maelstrom which burned thousands of square kilometers, killing both sentients and non-sentients."

The cyborg waited patiently for some kernel of understanding to take root in his bewildered mind.

"Public servants and scientists realized that the Conflagration was partially because in previous decades, all fires had been stamped out as quickly as possible. This permitted the undergrowth to build up. When dry weather came and fires began, the undergrowth was kindling. It was just a matter of time before a disastrous holocaust occurred."

Sidious gazed at his steepled fingers for a long moment, then lifted his gaze, "The Old Republic was the same way, Vader. For a thousand generations, the Jedi served the Republic. Over time, the Order shifted in ways which in the end, resulted in its destruction. The Republic, too, grew unwieldy and weak and corrupt. Think of it, Vader; you, and I, and Malvos brought down the Jedi and the Republic in a generation! That could not have happened if the kindling was not there."

Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, contemplated this for a long five minutes.

"So you are saying it was inevitable," he finally said. "It was not some great plan on the part of the Sith. A result of time and circumstance."

"_Something_ was inevitable," Palpatine replied firmly. "If not us, someone else, and soon, perhaps not even a Force Sensitive. And if someone else, Alderaan would probably not be an asteroid field."

"The Dark Side is power," Darth Vader growled. "The Light is weak!"

"Qui-Gon Jinn found the secret to life after death, my friend," Palpatine pointed out, sipping his blue milk. "I understand the issues, Vader. If we are wrong, then we have murdered billions, we have destroyed planets, for nothing. It is easier to cling to a false belief than to accept our culpability. But we are both brave men, if nothing else. Perhaps the Dark Side is power and all this is worth it. Perhaps the Light is the better way. I, at least, am no longer sure. Now that Malvos is dead I am aware that the last decades have been full of ... loneliness and hatred. I am happier now, at this moment, than I have been in many years. And I have plushies!"

The younger Sith shook his head slightly. He understood the words coming from his Master's mouth, but they were so odd that he intended to run a full diagnostic when he was in the privacy of his hyperbaric chamber. Maybe he was actually unconscious in some kind of bizarre dream state.

"With your permission, I will retire to my chambers."

"By all means," Palpatine replied with a wave of the hand. The Emperor waited until the black armored Sith was near the door before speaking again.

"Vader?"

"Yes."

"If the Light Side is truly the path to life after death, it is possible you may see your Padme again."

/

_Author Note: my prayers are with the people of Australia. Those fires ..._


	10. Chapter 10

_Luke's quarters_

_Eclipse_

_In orbit around Imperial Center_

_1 hour later_

"Is he gone?"

Luke Skywalker lifted his head in astonishment and then sat up in bed.

"Obi-Wan!"

"Is. He. Gone?" Kenobi's ghost inquired anxiously, glancing around the bedroom.

Luke huffed and rolled his eyes, "Vader left like three hours ago, Ben. I don't know when he'll come back."

The spectral shoulders relaxed slightly and Ben stepped closer to his young friend.

"You need to leave, Luke. It's not safe for you here."

Skywalker scowled, "I am most certainly not leaving, Ben. He's my father! I have wanted to know him all my life!"

The old man began foaming at the mouth in a ghostly way, "Luke! He is a Sith Lord! You can't ... it is just not safe, at all, for you to ... You are vulnerable to the Dark Side of the Force. You have to get out of here!"

"Not happening, Ben," Luke responded, his eyes narrowing. "I'm staying here. With Malvos gone and the Emperor rethinking his life, I have a real chance of helping my father make better choices."

"No one can come back from the Dark Side of the Force," Obi-Wan Kenobi stated gravely. "It is impossible."

"I would have said it was_ impossible_ that your vaunted Jedi Order took kids from their families and never let them see their parents and siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins again," the young man growled back as he rolled to his feet. "But apparently that was a thing?"

Kenobi blinked in surprise, "Yes, of course. But what does that have to do with the Dark Side? With Vader?"

"The Jedi Order was ... was crazy!" Luke snapped, pacing back and forth. "Who does that? Who takes kids from their parents and family? Who tells a vulnerable young man that he should leave his mother in slavery? Who has such stupid rules that a married couple feel they have to hide their pregnancy? Who really drove my father to the Dark Side, Kenobi! I don't think it was all Palpatine, to be honest, or even Malvos. I think it was partly the Jedi!"

The ghost wilted steadily through this diatribe and when Luke was done, the old man's face was a mask of sorrow, "I did fail Anakin, Luke. I acknowledge that. I didn't realize the stress he was under, and I ... I disregarded his fears for his own mother when he had his dreams that she was in danger. I truly thought they were just fearful visions but I should have known that where Anakin was concerned ..."

The former Jedi Master trailed away, then his chin lifted with determination, "But Luke, everything I have done in the last 20 years was to protect you. When your mother died, we knew we had to keep you safe, we had to ..."

"Separate me from Leia," Luke interrupted, his blue eyes hard. "My twin sister."

The wraith nodded sadly, "Indeed. We did not dare keep you together, Luke. Palpatine, and yes, Vader, would have used you against one another."

Luke's hands clenched in outrage but he kept his mouth shut as he contemplated Kenobi's words.

"I believe you did what you thought was best," he said, finally. "And maybe it even was for the best. But if you were taken from your parents at a young age ..."

He trailed off, waiting.

"I was," the ghost agreed, his brow furrowed in bewilderment.

"Then you don't know what family is really like, Ben. You don't know how important family is. I grew up with family, an aunt and uncle who loved me. I was blessed by that. But I have missed my sister my whole life. I have missed my father my whole life. That was taken from me. Vader is partially responsible, but then so are you, really, at some level. I mean, it was your decision, presumably, to haul me off to that dustball."

"Tatooine was the last place Vader would ever look for you."

"Yet another thing he and I have in common; we both hate Tatooine."

Kenobi winced openly and Luke felt a surge of guilt, "Ben, thank you for what you did for me. I know you sacrificed a great deal. I think the Jedi Order was really screwed up. Certainly my father and Palpatine are a mess. I'm staying here with both of them to see if we can find a better path."

Obi-Wan groaned aloud and clutched his forehead, "Skywalkers!"

He vanished.

/-

_The Emperor's Throne Room_

_The Eclipse_

_30 minutes later_

Palpatine spun his throne around and around and around, enjoying the motion. The Force really could be a lot of fun. It was a little like that ride at the Stalisti Fair back in Theed, the capitol city of Naboo. He had been 6 or 7 at the time, his mother still healthy, and he and Malvos had enjoyed a glorious day together.

The Emperor's eyes itched slightly. When had things gone so wrong between Malvos and himself?

"Your Highness?"

Startled, Sheev opened his eyes and turned his chair away from the window and toward the elevator into the Throne Room. Six troopers surrounded a prisoner, led by a nervous captain who bowed his head.

"Your Highness, the prisoner you requested."

The aged monarch smiled excitedly, "Yes, yes. Very good. Leave us!"

He leaned back in his throne and waited as his troops turned on their heels and lock stepped out of the room.

He frowned, thoughtfully. Perhaps it would better to be entirely private for this interview.

"Guards, leave us," he ordered his Royal Guards. They obeyed immediately, of course.

Poor guards. It occurred to him that their lives must be incredibly boring. Did they have a Guard Room for down time? If so, what was it like? Were there tasty snacks? Maybe he could arrange to have plushies given to each of his loyal guards in gratitude for hard service ...

"What do you want?" the prisoner demanded coldly, her blue eyes hard.

Oh right, the prisoner. He needed to talk to her. He waved a hand and the Togruta's manacles and shock collar dropped to the floor with a clang.

"Tano," Palpatine said with what he hoped was a welcoming smile. (Or was it a grimace? He was so bad at this!)

"Your Highness," she replied sarcastically.

"Please sit down," the Emperor suggested, lifting a chair from the corner and bringing it over to where the tall female stood. "You look very thin, which is no surprise since they probably didn't feed you well in prison. Moof juice?"

Tano's Force sense flashed in surprise before her shields came down hard. She stared at the chair, then at the floating bottle of moof juice.

"Is it drugged?" she demanded suspiciously, though her eyes glistened with enthusiasm.

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Palpatine shrieked aloud, causing the prisoner to jerk in surprise.

"I'm sorry," he continued, calming down. "It's just ... well, let me just answer the question. No, it isn't drugged. In fact, I'll just take that one and you can have another one."

He suited Force actions to words and took a deep draught from his bottle. Moof juice. He would love it until the day he died.

Ahsoka Tano maintained a deep frown, but she sat down cautiously. A moment later she decided to throw caution to the winds and threw down a slug of juice. It. Was. Delicious.

"Do you know what happened to your former Master, Anakin Skywalker?" Palpatine demanded abruptly.

Tano frowned, her brow furrowed with sorrow and anger, "I heard he died defending the Jedi Temple against the Clone Troopers."

"Ah, yes," the Emperor replied, stroking his chin. "We set that rumor about. I wasn't quite sure if anyone bought it but obviously some individuals did so. He did not die in the Temple, Tano. He's actually still alive. Sort of."

The woman stared, her overly thin face pale in the cold light of the Throne Room.

"If that is true," she forced out, "not that I trust you at all, then where has he been all these years?"

"Ah, that's the question, of course," Palpatine said with a sympathetic nod. "He's been working for me."

The former padawan shook her head hard, "No, that's not true. He ... my Master, he wouldn't!"

"For Padme he would," the Emperor explained gently. "He turned to the Dark Side to try to save her from death. It failed, she died, but he was already irrevocably committed to the Dark Side."

The old man frowned, "Well, perhaps not irrevocably. I've had quite a hard couple of weeks myself, Ahsoka Tano. I'm not too sure that the Dark Side is all it is cracked up to be. I've been dipping a non-corporeal toe into the Light Side and it feels good. I mean, just look at my face! Well, you probably don't see a difference but I assure you, one good round of Light Side meditation has taken off at least six months of wrinkles! I'm still a disaster, of course, but ..."

"What is this _drivel_?" the prisoner snarled, rising to her full height and taking a menacing step forward. "No one can return from the Dark Side, especially a cruel, manipulative rancor like you, who has been immersed in the Dark Ways for his entire life!"

Palpatine sighed. Of course the woman would not be convinced easily.

He pushed a button on his throne.

"Yes, my master?'

"Join me in my Throne Room immediately."

"Yes, my master," the other man replied, relief coloring his bass tone. It was discouraging that Vader felt far more comfortable as slave than companion or friend ...

"Oh, so now you're going to set Vader on me, huh?" Tano demanded, her hands clenching with a mixture of fear and anger. "I assure you that nothing he can do is worse than what Isard tried. I won't tell you anything, your Highness, no matter what you do. I'll die first."

Palpatine groaned. Another problem. Ysanne Isard, his Imperial Intelligence Director, was an ambitious, cruel, vengeful woman. If he decided to go with this whole Light Side thing, he'd have to get rid of her.

The elevator door slid open revealing the tall form and heavy breathing of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.

Ahsoka Tano lifted her chin slightly to face the masked beast. This situation was bizarre and weird and confusing but by all her love and loyalty of friends past and present, she would tell these vile Sith Lords nothing.

Vader halted a bare three meters from the elevator, and Ahsoka felt a cataclysmic quake in the Force.

"Snips?" he asked weakly.

/-

_Luke's quarters_

The door slid open abruptly and a thin male form was shoved through the opening before it shut rapidly. Luke hurried forward, eager to assist whoever ...

"General Dodonna!" he cried out in shock, his own strong arms helping lift the feeble old man to his feet.

Jan Dodonna, Rebel general in charge of the Death Star battle at Yavin IV, current prisoner of the Empire, gazed at the young man in disbelief.

"What are you doing here?" the old man asked suspiciously, gazing around the comfortable quarters.

"Er, it's a long story, General," Luke replied, guiding the man to a nearby couch. "Can I get you some, er, moof juice? And some food?"

"What are you doing here?" Dodonna demanded again.

Luke frowned at the words, then nodded slowly, "I ... I get it. This seems dubious. I haven't betrayed the Rebellion, General."

Dodonna waited skeptically.

Luke sighed and walked over to a small cooling unit where he retrieved two bottles of moof juice. He walked over and held out both bottles, "Choose one, General."

The man stared, then picked the one on the right. Luke handed it over, sat down, opened the bottle, and took a long drink.

"It isn't drugged or poisoned."

The old man sighed. He was starving, of course, and thirsty. He might as well. For two minutes, the two men sat quietly, drinking their moof juice.

"So, how did you get here?" the General asked again, this time sternly.

"I was captured on Tanjay less than a week ago, General," Luke answered, responding to the authority in his general's tone. "I ... uh ... it's been weird since then. No interrogations, but I have met Emperor Palpatine, his twin brother Malvos, and Darth Vader. And I killed the twin brother Malvos."

"Palpatine doesn't have a twin brother."

"He apparently does. Well, he did. I can tell. And the brother was apparently controlling the Emperor ..."

The boy trailed away at the skepticism on the old man's face, "Yeah, it sounds bizarre. Ok, try this for bizarre. I just found out recently that Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker, and he's my father."

Dodonna spit out the moof juice, dripping orange liquid all over his gray prison outfit. Which was fine; it was a lousy excuse of a garment anyway.

"What!? That's impossible, Skywalker, impossible!"

Luke sighed and glanced out a nearby viewport, his expression contemplative, "No, it's not impossible, General. It is true. He knows the Words of Naming from Tatooine and all about my grandmother Shmi, who died a few years before I was born. Besides ..."

He tapped on his chest, his blue eyes determined, "I know it's true, General. Darth Vader is my father."

Dodonna sucked in a pained breath. The destruction of the Death Star had been the second great success of the burgeoning the Rebellion; the first had been the retrieval of the Death Star plans from Scarif, though the cost in manpower had been terrible. Jyn Erso and her companions had sacrificed their own lives to provide the plans, and this young man, with the power of the Force singing in his veins, had made their life offering worthwhile by managing to utilize Galen Erso's design flaw in the Death Star.

"What are you going to do, Skywalker?" Dodonna asked softly.

Luke frowned, "I'm not sure, General. I'm not going to, uh, turn to the Dark Side. I promise you that. But my father, and the Emperor – I think they genuinely are confused about life. Palpatine more than my father, honestly. So I'm going to stay and try to help them."

"Help them? Skywalker, that's impossible. They are both cruel, vile men. They are no doubt manipulating you for their own purposes, to draw you into their web of lies and ambition."

The youthful face was indignant, "He is my father, General! I'm not going to leave him!"

The boy looked around, "Not that I could anyway. I've got this shock collar on my neck and guards at the doors. I'm not going far."

Dodonna groaned aloud. He had been captured many months ago. He was so tired and weary. He'd withstood torture, and starvation, and thirst, and cold, and he could do that all day long. But dealing with a young idealist like Skywalker seemed too exhausting at the moment.

Luke seemed to sense this and smiled sadly, "Let's talk later, General. Let's get you to bed. You need some rest."

A rest sounded great.

_Author Note: Obviously in this AU, Ahsoka didn't know what happened to Anakin. Thanks for sticking with this story in spite of the slow updates. Thanks also to my beloved who keeps editing for me!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Emperor's Throne Room_

_Eclipse_

Ahsoka Tano stood near the transparisteel window, staring blankly out at Imperial Center. The_ Eclipse_ was positioned such that she could see the terminator into night; on one side, the ecumenopolis was a gray mass of buildings and smoke, on the other side was darkness, with nearly endless lights stretching into the distance. She had been brought to the Jedi Temple, then called Coruscant, as a child and it had seemed like home. But really, Coruscant (she refused to call it Imperial Center in her mind) was an odd place. So many people.

She hadn't even been sure where she was the last standard year. She'd been captured in a raid on Lothal, knocked unconscious, and woke up in a cell under very tight security. Shock collars had kept her under control, and she'd spent all too many hours enduring interrogations before her captors gave up on it and apparently settled for starving her slowly to death. It now appeared she had been on Imperial Center the last months, locked in an underground prison.

She sighed and leaned her weary head against the window.

Darth Vader had once been Anakin Skywalker

Darth Vader had once been Anakin Skywalker.

Darth Vader had once been …

"I trust you can control yourself and not kill our guest?" the creaky voice of the Emperor inquired from behind them.

"Yes, my Master."

My Master.

Anakin Skywalker had pledged his allegiance to the Darth Sidious.

Darth Sidious who said he had a twin brother who had been controlling him and now Palpatine was considering the Light Side?

On one hand, it was all very absurd. On the other hand, Palpatine felt … confused in the Force. There was both Light and Dark intertwined. And to some degree, Vader felt the same way though his anger, his vengeful spirit, reigned supreme in his Force Sense.

"You should sit down, Tano," Vader's cold voice stated. "You look unwell."

Ahsoka turned and shot the cyborg an angry look, then looked around with a frown, "Where did the Emperor go?"

"To bed, I suspect, with his army of plushies."

"What?!"

"Plushies," Vader snapped, beginning to pace. "He is ... I don't know what he is doing. He has literally four dozen plush toys on his bed. He tried to give me a bantha plushie, but I threw it against the wall with the Force."

"Huh," Tano replied insolently, and strolled over to her chair, where she sat down. This sounded promising, actually. If Palpatine was willing to set aside his dignity in this way, perhaps there was real hope for the old man.

"So you and the Senator had a real thing going, huh?" she asked casually.

The great fists tightened, "I do not wish to speak of it."

Tano frowned, "It seems important. Palpatine said you turned to the Dark Side to try and ..."

"I will not speak of her," the great voice thundered, even as a series of cracks appeared in the giant transparisteel viewport opposite the throne.

In spite of herself, Ahsoka found this thoroughly nerve wracking. Anakin had always been powerful, but that was pretty nuts. These windows were rated for intense pressure.

"Ok, um, how about the Emperor's twin brother? I didn't know he had a twin brother."

"Neither did I," Vader returned, his Force sense dark and bitter. "I learned of his existence less than 2 standard days ago. Now Palpatine, who seduced me to the Dark Side, who told me I could save …"

He trailed off, his repetitive breathing harsh in the silence, "He now tells me that perhaps the Dark Side is not the path to power. Perhaps all we have done is for nothing."

Ahsoka stared at her former master in disbelief and shook her head, "So, this shift in Palpatine's viewpoint came after the Emperor killed his own brother?"

"Malvos had been drugging the Emperor, and controlling him, for decades. Sidious was too weak to destroy him."

"So you killed him."

"I did not either. My ... my son smashed Malvos over the head with a chair and broke his neck, saving both my life and that of the Emperor."

Tano's mouth dropped open and she slobbered slightly before recovering, "Your what?!"

"My son. Luke Skywalker."

Ahsoka Tano shook her head to clear it, "You have a son?"

"And a daughter. Twins. We just discovered that in the last day as well, that my Angel survived our last encounter and successfully gave birth to twins before ..."

"She died," Ahsoka breathed out, her heart clenching violently. Padme Amidala had been one of many horrifying losses at the birth of the Empire. Ahsoka had lost countless friends and colleagues; indeed, she had only escaped the Purge by the barest of margins thanks to the loyalty of the Clone Commander Rex, who had removed his control chip before Sidious had broadcast Order 66. There had been sorrow almost to the point of stunned blankness, but Tano remembered crying as she watched a broadcast of Padme Amidala's funeral on Naboo.

"She looked pregnant," she suddenly said aloud, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Vader replied with unnerving understanding, "It was a trick of the Jedi. They concealed the fact that she had given birth to hide my children from me. If I had known ..."

"You would have hunted them down like a rabid rancor?" Ahsoka demanded snidely.

The cyborg turned toward her and his fists clenched in rage, "Take care how you speak, Tano."

"No, really, toddlers are scary, Skyguy. Noisy, argumentative, stinky. I don't think you'd have been a great dad while firmly submerged in the Dark Side."

"They are my children. I deserved to have them with me. They are all that's left of ..."

He trailed off, and Ahsoka felt a stab of (mild) sympathy, "I get it. Can I meet your son?"

Darth Vader stared at his former apprentice and sighed. Why not? This day was strange and might as well get stranger.

"Come," he ordered.

/

_Luke's Quarters_

_10 minutes later_

"Hi!" the very thin female Togruta said with a smile. "I'm Ahsoka Tano."

"Luke Skywalker," Luke replied awkwardly, rising to his feet even as he shook his head to clear it. He had fallen asleep on the couch and had a crick in his neck. Also, his father was looming behind the woman, who looked starved and was wearing a uniform like Dodonna's. So, another prisoner?

"I was your father's apprentice during the Clone Wars," the female continued cheerily. "Before he lost his freaking mind and joined up with Palpatine."

"I advise you to be cautious, Ahsoka," Vader rumbled angrily, shifting from one cyborg leg to the other.

"I lost any semblance of caution about 20 years ago, Skyguy," Tano replied with a grin even as she sat down next to Luke. She stared at him thoughtfully and nodded.

"You look so much like Anakin, Luke Skywalker. Or Luke. Can I call you Luke?"

"Sure," Luke answered, his head buzzing slightly from confusion. Who was this individual? He wasn't stupid; it was quite possible this woman was an Imperial plant, meant to befriend and trick him. Caution was in order.

"So, where have you been hiding all these years, Luke? And do you really go by Skywalker?"

Luke frowned, "Tatooine. And of course I did. My father was Anakin Skywalker so of course I had his surname. Names matter on Tatooine."

Tano nodded sympathetically, "I get it. It's just surprising in a way because Skyguy was really well known across the galaxy. It was a bold move."

"Tatooine is the dusty back end of nowhere. I didn't even know he was a Jedi until less than a year ago. The people who raised me told me he was a navigator on a freighter."

A peculiar sound emanated from Vader's vocoder, "A navigator? A navigator?"

"Your father is one of the best pilots in the galaxy, Luke," Tano said with a chuckle. "He never had much use for navigators."

"I know he's amazing. He nearly blew me to space dust in the Death Star trench."

Tano blinked, "What?"

"I blew up the Death Star six months ago," Luke stated defiantly, his eyes fixated on the female Togruta's countenance. If she was an Imperial plant, she'd probably have trouble hiding her outrage. He knew that Imperial propaganda painted him as the very worst sort of murderous terrorist.

Ahsoka's eyes were wide with incredulity, "I was captured almost a standard year ago, Luke, and have been in solitary confinement ever since. I had heard rumors of a space station that could destroy planets, but I truly thought they were just that, rumors. Was it really capable of such a thing?"

Luke's face tightened, "Yes. The Death Star destroyed Alderaan."

Ahsoka Tano stared at him for a long moment, even as the tan markings on her face grew paler. She shook her head and turned her gaze on Vader, her blue eyes full of horror.

"The Empire destroyed Alderaan?" she finally whispered.

Vader shifted again, clearly uncomfortably, "The Royal family of Alderaan ..."

He stopped and his head lowered slightly, "Yes. Alderaan was destroyed."

"Dear Force," Tano gasped, her legs suddenly too weak to hold her. Luke grabbed her arm and guided her to a couch, where she collapsed. He was inclined to believe she was genuinely surprised, distressed and horrified. Surely no one could be that good an actress?

A moment later, he was absolutely sure that she was indeed who she said she was.

Her gaze shifted to a corner of the room and her expression changed into one of shocked confusion, "Um, Obi-Wan?"

"Yes," Kenobi agreed, shooting a nervous look at Vader. "Welcome to the madness, my dear Ahsoka. It is good to see you again."

/

_Sheev and Malvos's bedroom_

_Palpatine country residence_

_Naboo_

"And the woolly bantha cub curled up on his mommy's lap and went_ fast_ asleep."

"Read it again, Mama," 5 year old Sheev Palpatine murmured. "Please?"

"Darling, it is time to go to bed now. Malvos is already asleep."

Sheev glanced at his brother, who had indeed fallen over on his bed, his eyelids vibrating slightly. His brother was dreaming, Sheev knew that. Something not very nice. He also knew that.

"Please, Mama, I'm scared."

"Why are you frightened, darling?" Madra Palpatine asked softly, rubbing her older son's back gently.

"Malvos is having bad dreams."

Madra winced slightly. This whole twin thing was absolutely beyond her. How did Sheev know what was going on in the mind of her younger son?

"Sheev, sweetheart, people do sometimes have bad dreams. But I promise you that I love you both very much, that I'm here to protect you. There is nothing to be afraid of."

Madra reached out with her other hand and rubbed Malvos's thin back, hoping and praying that her love would penetrate the mind of her fragile younger son.

"It's better now, Mama," Sheev murmured after a minute.

"Well, to bed with you, my dear. Good night, Sheev."

"Good night, Mama."

"I love you, Sheev, I love you."

"I love you too."

/

_Emperor Palpatine's bedroom_

_Eclipse_

Sheev Palpatine woke up with a start, the words still reverberating in his head.

"I love you, Sheev. I love you."

"I love you too, Mama," he whispered aloud, and was surprised to feel tears in his eyes. He hadn't cried ...

Since Mother died.

"Good dreams?" Qui-Gon Jinn inquired curiously.

The Emperor sat up carefully and pulled a few pillows behind him to support his aging back. The old dead Jedi was perched cross legged on the bedside table and was busily brushing his ephemeral beard, apparently taming it after a close encounter with a small tornado in the Force Afterlife. He looked very wild at the moment.

"Yes and no," Palpatine replied, floating a bottle of moof juice from the nearby cooling unit. "I dreamt of my mother. She used to read _The Wondrous Wanderings of the Woolly Bantha Cub_ to me and my brother before we went to sleep."

"_The Wondrous Wanderings ..."_

"_Of the Woolly Bantha Cub_, yes. I wonder if I can find an actual hard copy of that book. I have such fond memories."

"You are Emperor of the known galaxy," Jinn pointed out drily. "You can pretty much have whatever you want."

"From a purely material point of view, you are of course correct," Palpatine replied gloomily. He took a sip of moof juice and then hurled his body against the bed, stretching luxuriously.

"I think the Light Side is the way to go," he commented in a conversational tone.

"Really?" Jinn inquired in surprise.

"Yes, really. My mother loved me, you know. The Sith have no use for love, but I feel a strange combination of sorrow and joy at the memories of her kindness and devotion to me and Malvos."

Qui-Gon thoughtfully chewed on his spectral lip, "I of course have no memory of my mother. I never knew her."

"You missed out, Jinn. All you Jedi did. It's a tragedy, really, that Anakin was almost the only one of your lot who had a devoted mother and then she died horrifically, which drove him toward the Dark Side."

"That is indeed regrettable," the dead Jedi agreed drily.

"Speaking of Anakin, or Vader, what am I going to do with him? I mean, I totally messed up his life, or maybe Malvos did? Now he's deeply invested in the Dark Side and I've decided the Dark Side reeks. He's so strong he might well be able to kill me, which I suppose I deserve, but if I die he'll take over, probably, and be a Dark Side Emperor and that doesn't seem optimal."

"I agree."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Palpatine asked anxiously, sitting up slightly to focus on the shimmering form on the side table.

There was a pause as Jinn mulled.

"I think ... there is hope for Anakin," he said, finally. "His children live in the Light, and I see that you've unearthed Tano from somewhere."

"She's been festering in the prison in the _Lusankya,_ which is buried under the surface of Imperial Center."

"She and Anakin have a strong bond, I believe."

"They_ had_ a strong bond. I successfully messed up her life, and his, by plotting against her those many years ago. I remember being quite enraged when Anakin managed to unearth the truth about the Temple bombing, thus clearing Tano. It was my intention, of course, to have her put to death, thus chipping away at Anakin's support group. I was a foul old wretch, when all is said and done. Or Malvos was."

"In any case," Jinn continued, "his twins and his old apprentice are alive and well and devoted to the Light. That has to help. I would say in many ways that Vader is not your greatest problem."

Palpatine frowned, "Why is that?"

Jinn shrugged, "Think about it, Sheev. You and your brother created a government mired in corruption and greed, filled with moffs and bureaucrats and officers struggling to garner power through any means necessary. Vader is at least secure in his power and is genuinely devoted to the Empire for the Empire's sake, or at least that is my sense."

The Emperor wrinkled a brow, pondering these words, "I suppose that is true. I sold him on the idea that the Empire would bring true peace and prosperity after the initial growing pains. He has destroyed both Jedi and Rebel because he genuinely believes that they are bringing war to a galaxy which longs for peace under my wise rule."

Jinn groaned aloud, "He really is still quite naïve in some ways. I'm afraid I'm partially responsible for that. I took him from his mother and then promptly got killed by Maul like a total idiot. Poor Anakin."

"Poor Anakin, indeed," Palpatine agreed, wincing guiltily. "I'll have to see what I can do to make it up to him. In any case, you are correct that Ysanne Isard, who betrayed her own father to his death, and idiots like Admiral Ozzel, are going to be harder to convince."

"I'd say some of them are a lost cause," Jinn murmured.

A minute passed in silence.

"I have an idea," the Emperor said suddenly.

/

_Author Note: Chugging along here, slowly but surely. Thank you to those still following this very odd little fic. Thank you to my dear husband who is now editing 2 fanfics at once. Again. Because I'm like that._


	12. Chapter 12

_Council Room_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_2 days later_

Emperor Palpatine stalked slowly around the table, tapping his walking stick on the floor.

"The reality," he grated out in his most ominous tone, "is that this war is lasting too long. The Rebel Alliance has proven more dangerous and determined than originally anticipated. It is time for a change in tactics."

"A change, your Highness?" asked Ysanne Isard. Palpatine bent his stare on the woman, contemplating her thoughtfully. She was, at least, a courageous woman in that she was willing to speak up when the others in the room — Sate Pestage, Mas Amedda and various random officials — maintained a nervous silence.

"A change, yes," he repeated in a silky tone, even as he hobbled over to his small throne at the head of the table and sat down. "I grow weary with annihilating the Rebels in one place only to have them pop up, like particularly virulent mold, in another system. Lord Vader and I have discussed this plan in detail and while it will no doubt seem reckless in ways, we are in agreement that a bold touch is required."

He glanced briefly at Vader, who was standing silently near the wall — silent, save for the rhythmic breathing. He really needed to make time for Vader to see someone about his lungs. Palpatine found the breathing irritating on occasion and he didn't have to live with it on a second by second basis.

"We, of course, respect and honor your perspicuity, your Highness," Pestage murmured meekly.

"Excellent!" Palpatine hissed malevolently. It took real effort these days to look ominous and crabby, and he'd gone so far as to get a new cloak with a deeper hood so that his subjects were not able to observe how much healthier he looked. Even a few hours of Light Side Force assisted healing had proven remarkably useful, both inwardly and outwardly.

For that matter, young Skywalker was very powerful, and Vader's son. Perhaps he and the boy could work on Vader's lungs …

The growing anxiety in the room impinged on his consciousness, making him aware that he was sitting like a spine spider and freaking everyone out.

He cleared his throat and nodded slightly, "We will change our course, my servants. For the next months, we will pursue a new path. It is time for a kinder, gentler Empire."

There was a bewildered pause and Palpatine watched the play of expressions across the faces of his underlings.

"I'm sorry, your Highness," Isard asked meekly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Palpatine replied, leaning forward cozily, "that we will stop attacking the Rebels. We will offer to negotiate a peace treaty. We will slightly reduce taxes. We will release political prisoners. We will, indeed, entice the Rebels into a state of relaxation and, dare I say, trust. And then, we will pounce like a loth cat."

The faces of those around the table was a study in incredulity. There were gaping eyes and mouths, wrinkled brows, and dilating pupils. It was really quite amusing.

"Release political prisoners, Master?" Amedda asked nervously. "Your Highness, if I may, releasing some of the more, er, damaged individuals would be counterproductive to your intention of the Empire being, um, gentler and kinder."

Palpatine frowned thoughtfully. There was some legitimacy to this argument. Those poor souls, well, really, the things that had been done to them. It was outrageous. He'd have to get them healed up a bit, though regrettably, the mind healing required was probably more than the Empire could handle easily. Well, he had smart people who could analyze the prisoner needs and work with them to at least return them to a moderately healthy state.

"An excellent point," Palpatine stated with what he hoped was a feral smile. "Lord Vader and I will discuss this issue. In the meantime, I will be sending you each specific directions on how you can assist the Empire in our new and brilliant venture in deceiving, and then defeating, the Rebellion."

He tried out a manic cackle and was pleased to see his various minions quiver in fear. He still had it where it counted, even if it was faked. Oh yeah.

(He had always loved the opera, even as a young boy. He remembered, at the age of 11, dreaming of being an opera star. But then Darth Plagieus, and Malvos, and the Dark Side, had intervened with his hopes. That, and his singing voice was terrible. But perhaps he could pass on the mantle of Emperor to someone and become an actor. That would be positively enjoyable.)

"Your Highness," Grand Vizier Sate Pestage said politely, "I assume that the search for the destroyer of the Death Star will continue?"

Palpatine blinked and firmly refused to look at the doorway, where two black clad troopers flanked the door.

"He is right, your Highness," Isard chimed in her, blue and red eyes flashing with rage. "This plan is brilliant, of course, but justice requires that we track down and destroy the individual who murdered over a million of our troops."

Palpatine blinked again, and in spite of himself, his mind's eye suddenly filled with a vision of the Palace on Aldera. He had visited once in a vain attempt to terrify the Organa family into submission. It had been beautiful, Alderaan. And it was gone, destroyed in a flash of cataclysmic destruction.

The Emperor considered briefly, then narrowed his eyes menacingly, "The Destroyer of the Death Star is already in Imperial custody. He was captured last week."

There were gasps of surprise and delight, and Isard's mouth opened to reveal feral teeth.

"I presume, your Highness," Mas Amedda stated enthusiastically, "that regardless of your ingenious plan, the individual in question will be thoroughly interrogated and then publicly executed?"

Palpatine smiled slightly, "That would be a poor idea, Vizier."

"Why?" Sate Pestage demanded. "Whoever he is, he murdered more than a million of your troops."

"Because he is Lord Vader's son," the Emperor drawled calmly, leaning back in his chair.

There was a heart stopping moment even as 10 pairs of eyes shifted from Palpatine to the cyborg Sith looming ominously behind his chair.

"Vader's son?" Isard squeaked in clear disbelief.

"Indeed," Vader replied in his angriest tone. "He was stolen from me as an infant, and discovered this week."

"You are saying your son is a Rebel," Ars Dangor said, his brown eyes flashing in rage.

"He _was _a Rebel," Vader responded. "He is now in my custody."

"He is responsible for the death of more than a million troops, including my own nephew," Dangor thundered, rising to his feet.

"Ars Dangor," Vader replied, then turned his mask to take in those seated at the table. "Indeed, all of you. If you harm my son, if you so much as touch a hair of his head maliciously, I will personally ensure that all your entrails are removed through your nostrils. Is that clear?"

Dangor paled slightly and turned his gaze on the Emperor hopefully.

"Lord Vader," Palpatine said softly, "I believe everyone understands. The young man is under your protection. Come now, we all are all reasonable sentients. Think. The young man is an Alliance hero. He is also Lord Vader's son. He will be a useful bridge between the Empire and the Alliance. He is a valuable asset in our ultimate plan."

He watched as his minions glowered and shifted and wrinkled thoughtful brows.

"I understand, your Highness," Ysanne Isard said, finally, and the others murmured uneasy assent.

"Excellent. This meeting is over," Palpatine ordered. "You are dismissed."

His underlings filed out of the room, followed by one of the troopers. The other one waited until the door slid shut before removing his black helmet with a shake of his blond head, "That helmet is heavy and I don't understand how anyone sees well in it. The peripheral vision is terrible."

Palpatine looked fondly at Luke Skywalker and smiled, "The helmet is meant for protection. You are also smaller than regulation, so it is ill fitting."

The boy nodded and turned an unnerved gaze on his Sith Lord father, "Entrails through their nostrils? That is quite a ... er ... visceral image."

"If anyone harms you," Vader began, then stopped as Palpatine lifted a placating hand.

"Lord Vader, no harm will come to your son," he said firmly, sitting up slightly. "Young Skywalker, you will need to submit to being well protected. I'm afraid that some of my courtiers are quite enraged with blood lust despite your father's warnings."

"Blood lust because I destroyed the Death Star," the boy responded, his eyes suddenly sad. "I did kill over a million sentients. I've mourned that before, but to actually be in the room with a relative of the lost is hard. I feel guilty."

Vader stiffened at these words, but Palpatine again lifted a hand, "Mourn if you wish, Luke, but do not feel guilty. It was my decision, or Malvos's, to build the Death Star. I do feel intense guilt over the fate of Alderaan, which is as it should be. You had no good choice that day over Yavin. I am thankful you succeeded."

He felt Vader's shock in the Force at these words, and sighed. Poor Vader. The man was so confused over the new outlook of his master.

"You need training, young Skywalker," Palpatine continued determinedly. "You need to be able to protect yourself if someone is foolish enough to make an attempt on your life."

"I will train Luke," Vader said flatly.

"No, you won't," Luke returned, just as firmly. "I'm not using the Dark Side."

"There are techniques which are used by both Light and Dark."

"Father, I love you, but I don't trust you. I won't learn from you."

"You will, my son. We belong together."

"Lord Vader, young Skywalker, if I may."

Father and son turned to Palpatine, who straightened his weary body. He was tired.

"I suggest that Ahsoka Tano teach you, young man, and that Lord Vader look on and provide suggestions. Tano is a devotee of the Light Side, but she is not a Jedi. Frankly, and we can discuss this later, the Jedi lost their way, though I admire their commitment to the Light. Is that palatable for both of you?"

There was a pause as the twosome – one gigantic black cyborg, the other short blond youth, exchanged thoughtful glances.

"Yes," they said together.

"Excellent. How is General Dodonna recovering?" he demanded, changing the subject.

"He is improving steadily, my Master," Vader replied. "He is stable enough to be returned to the Alliance, if you wish."

"I do," the Emperor replied. "Please make it so. And are you willing to escort your son back to his quarters?"

"My cell, you mean?" Skywalker demanded. "It _is_ a cell, though a nice one."

The former Sith Master narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He was being unfair, he realized.

"Do you wish to return to the Alliance with Dodonna?" he asked slowly.

"No," both father and son said simultaneously. Vader sounded angry at the mere thought, and Skywalker sounded surprised.

The two glanced at one another uncomfortably and Luke spoke again, "No, your Highness. I want to stay here, with my father. I've always wanted to know him. I just wish I could wander around a bit more. My quarters here in the Palace are very pleasant but a bit confining."

Palpatine nodded even as something clutched at his heart, "Very well. Lord Vader, can you arrange for your son to see the gardens, perhaps? You will need to protect him."

"Yes, my master."

"Thank you," Luke said quietly even as his forehead creased worriedly. "You seem tired, sir."

"I am. I will retire to sleep now."

/-

_Emperor's bedroom_

_Imperial Palace_

Ten minutes later, Palpatine walked slowly into his personal quarters and halted in vague surprise.

"Jinn," he stated.

"Sheev," Qui-Gon Jinn replied, rolling his ghostly form off the bed. "You have a fine army of plushies."

"Yes," Palpatine agreed wearily, sitting down on the bed. "I'm thankful for them though I long for more."

Jinn tilted his wispy head, "Do you refer to anything in particular?"

Palpatine stared out the transparisteel window which faced Umate, the taller of the twin peaks that were the Manarai Mountains.

"Young Luke said he wanted to stay here," he stated softly. "He said he always wanted to know his father and refused to even consider being ... well, released. He is a prisoner, when all is said and done."

Jinn frowned in confusion, "That seems like an excellent thing, does it not? You wish Vader to turn back to the Light. Young Skywalker will assist with that."

The Emperor groaned and leaned back against his pillow, "Yes, but ..."

He stopped again, and the dead Jedi waited patiently.

"I too have a son," Palpatine admitted softly, "or had."

Qui-Gon let out a startled, embarrassed yelp. Dead Jedi did not generally yelp, but he couldn't help himself.

"What?" he managed.

"I ... oh dear, it is quite embarrassing, really. Malvos got me drunk about, it must be 19 years ago and brought in a ... well, a courtesan. He could have killed me as I killed Plageuis, so perhaps I was lucky."

"And the woman gave birth to a child?"

"Yes," Sheev continued, running a hand over his face. "A son, as I said. And would you believe it? He had a totally normal midichlorian count. He wasn't Force Sensitive at all. Knowing what I know now, Malvos no doubt hoped the child would a strong Force Sensitive who could be controlled and used when it was time to discard me. At the time, I merely disdained the child and at Malvos's urging, I cast him aside."

Jinn winced, "And you regret it now?"

"Of course I regret it now. I haven't thought of him for years ..."

Palpatine's voice trailed off and he gazed at his rancor plushie, "Malvos dealt with him, which may mean he is dead."

There was a long, drawn out pause before the aged Emperor spoke again, "I find myself envying Vader. His son cares for him, is even devoted to him. He is a fortunate man."

/

_Forward Hoth Base_

_Hoth_

_One week later_

"Jan!" Leia Organa cried out, rushing forward to embrace the old man who had walked slowly off the shuttle. "General, it is so good to see you!"

"Leia," Dodonna replied, even as he cast an unhappy look around him. Really, with all the planets in the galaxy, why did the Alliance have to choose a place like this? It made his cell on the_ Lusankya_ look good.

Well, no, he realized with a shudder, the cell was worse.

"I know," Leia said with understanding in her tone, "It's cold and dismal. We figure the Empire probably won't find us here, though if it proves too much for our troops, we may keep it as more of an outpost. We're trying to decide whether it can be our main base."

"I would vote no," the old man said with a shiver. He was far too thin and even in the comparative warmth of the hanger, the cold penetrated his bones like sharp knives.

"Come," Leia said firmly. "Mon Mothma and General Rieekan flew in to meet you."

Dodonna held out his arm in an old fashioned gesture from his birth world of Commenor. Leia took it with a smile and together they walked slowly through several icy corridors before entering a slightly warmer room where Mon Mothma, elected leader of the Alliance, and General Rieekan were waiting.

There were embraces and even a few tears before the three elders sat down. Leia disappeared into a nearby closet and came out with a thick blanket, which she wrapped around Dodonna.

"Do you need something to eat?" the princess asked worriedly. Up close, in the brighter lights of the conference room, she could see more clearly the bones in her dear mentor's face.

"Yes," Dodonna said honestly. "I've been eating a great deal in the last two weeks but I am still undernourished."

Leia glanced at C-3PO, who nodded and toddled off in search of refreshments.

"So, General Dodonna," Mothma said, taking control of the meeting. "How did you escape Imperial custody?"

Dodonna sighed and passed a hand over his face even as he mournfully shook his head, "I didn't. I was released."

The other three exchanged nervous glances, and Jan saw Mon Mothma's face tighten.

"I know what you are thinking," he said wearily, "and you are right. You would be foolish to trust me. I feel like I am sound of mind, if not body, but perhaps I'm a sleeper agent now and will be triggered by a sound or light pattern. I don't know. Definitely don't trust me, and don't share extremely sensitive information with me."

Leia leaned over to clasp his hand, "We won't, Jan. But we also won't assume you are compromised."

"Well, at some level I am," the elderly man said honestly. "Months of interrogation, isolation, and starvation in Imperial custody have left their mark, there is no doubt."

Leia winced at these words and glanced anxiously at Rieekan. The Rebel General from lost Alderaan was gazing at Dodonna with a worried look on his face.

"Was it Vader?" Mon Mothma asked delicately.

The princess shivered slightly and Jan quickly shook his head, "No. I mean, he was not my interrogator. That was left to Ysanne Isard's minions. I didn't meet Vader until two weeks ago."

"What did he do to you?" Leia hissed now, her eyes blazing.

Dodonna chuckled in spite of himself, "As odd as it sounds, he took me for a walk to a garden, along with Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano."

There was a collective gasp.

"Luke!?" Leia exclaimed in horror.

"Tano!" Mon Mothma murmured in disbelief.

"A walk?" Rieekan asked incredulously.

This time Dodonna actually laughed, semi hysterically, and then turned to accept a glass of blue milk from C-3PO, who came into the door muttering about his frozen joints.

"A walk, yes," the old general said, taking a sip. "As absurd as that sounds. And it was absurd. Vader escorted the three of us to the Emperor's private garden, located in a central courtyard of the Imperial Palace. Tano and I sunned ourselves and ate blue milk pudding, and Skywalker ran around exclaiming at all the flora."

He glanced around at the bewildered gazes of his compatriots and sighed, "I'm sorry, that must be terribly confusing. The whole situation is more or less insane, to the point that at times I wonder if I'm a disembodied brain in a jar with strange currents being pumped through me."

"If you are, then we're jarbrains too," Mon said with a slight smile.

Leia was still pale with horror, "We were almost certain that Skywalker was imprisoned or dead. He went missing on Tanjay several weeks ago on a mission gone east. But to hear confirmation that he was indeed captured is very difficult."

"What kind of shape is he in?" Rieekan demanded bluntly.

"Physically, fine. He has not been harmed. Emotionally ..."

The old man trailed away and looked down at his hands for a long moment. He breathed deeply in and out 4 times, and was grateful as his co-workers allowed him to take this time to center himself.

"Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Vader, and Ahsoka Tano, and Luke Skywalker, all claim that Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, was once Anakin Skywalker and is Skywalker's father."

There was a cry of horror from Leia, and when Dodonna looked into her beautiful face, it was pale with distress.

"That's not true! That's impossible!" she cried out.

The recently freed prisoner shrugged, "Perhaps. Skywalker said that Vader knew of his grandmother and also something called The Words of Naming, a Tatooine tradition apparently. Vader certainly is _acting _parental. He hovered over Skywalker the whole time we were in the palace garden, and he assumed an aggressive posture any time a gardener or minion wandered by."

"Even if it is true," Rieekan murmured, "and I'm not saying it is ... well, it hardly seems possible. But they can't know that Skywalker destroyed the Death Star. If they did, Vader himself would turn against him, regardless of any possible genetic affiliation."

"They do know," Dodonna said patiently. "Just before I was sent off in a shuttle, I had a meeting with Palpatine and Vader and Skywalker in the Emperor's Throne Room. The destruction of the Death Star was a topic of conversation, and Skywalker openly admitted to being the pilot who took it down."

Leia groaned aloud and lifted a hand to wipe away tears, "True or not, it sounds like Luke ... Luke is compromised. Either he has been deceived, or Vader is his ..."

She trailed away, biting her lip so hard that a spot of blood appeared and stained one pearly tooth.

Dodonna reached out a hand and patted her arm, "It may be that bad, or maybe it isn't. The situation is enormously complex. In addition to Vader being Skywalker's father, Palpatine apparently had an identical twin brother."

Again, murmurs of shock.

"A brother?" Mon asked.

"Yes, an evil twin, according to Skywalker, who killed him by bashing him over the head with a chair. I have a recording of that confrontation, which I'll show you shortly. The Emperor says that he has decided that the Empire is evil and the Dark Side is bad and he wants to reform the Empire and make peace with the Alliance."

Now a full three minutes passed as Leia, Mon, and Rieekan stared at Dodonna with mouths gaping open.

"Dark Side is bad? The Empire is evil? What idiocy is this?" Leia sputtered out.

"I know," Jan agreed, rolling his eyes. "It does sound crazy, but he sounded vaguely genuine and Tano, who was, of course, imprisoned even longer than me, claimed that he has turned back to the Light Side."

"She too is compromised, then," Mon stated grimly.

Rieekan chewed on his lip. Should he wait on the last bombshell? Probably not a good idea. He might keel over dead and Leia needed to know what was happening.

"Leia," he said gently, facing his young protégé, "I also have a bag here with some of Skywalker's hair, which I cut off myself, for a genetic test."

"Because?" Rieekan asked wearily. What other odd things would his old friend say now?

"Because," Dodonna said, and winced openly. "Because Vader and Palpatine and Tano and Skywalker all say that you are Skywalker's twin sister, Leia."


	13. Chapter 13

_Imperial Holonet Studio #1_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_4 days later_

"The woolly bantha cub strutted into the meadow, where he came across a bevy of Rylothean fire butterlies!"

Emperor Palpatine twitched one skinny finger, and a host of paper butterflies leaped out of a box on the floor and into the air, swirling around the dozen children sitting on small mats in the studio. There were shrieks of surprise and then delight as one by one, the butterflies settled on the children's shoulders. Palpatine smiled at the little ones and turned the page.

"The woolly bantha cub climbed a steep hill, and at the very tip top, he found a flock of convorees!"

Again, a box was opened with the Force, and this time a series of polymeric convorees flew in stately ranks among the children. Several of the younger ones leaped to their feet and began chasing the birds down, only to be stopped by their agitated parents.

"I'm so sorry, your Highness," one worried mother muttered, only to have Palpatine wave away her apology.

"Not at all, my dear," he said with a smile. "This was my favorite book as a child. I completely understand their excitement."

He waited until order had been restored, and turned the next page. He knew the book by heart, so he didn't even have to read upside down. Most convenient.

"The woolly bantha cub slid down the hill and into a stream, where he found a school of goldies, flitting and glitting in the water ..."

/

_Conference Room_

_Rebel Cruiser _Liberty

_In orbit around Cona_

"He's lost his Wuur marbles," Han Solo said incredulously, his eyes on the holoscreen.

Leia snorted, though her nose was crinkled in confusion, "It's just a ruse, part of his plan to trick us into believing he's changed."

Mon Mothma sighed and grabbed the controller, lowering the volume significantly, "I don't know, Leia. There is more to it than that, I believe. Of course we can't trust Palpatine, but something _has _changed."

"What do you mean?"

The Rebel leader rubbed her neck wearily, "One thing about Palpatine is that he has always been very much on his dignity. Even when he was pretending to be the kindly Chancellor of the Republic, he never joked around or did anything that seemed foolish, or even casual. He was a serious man. This kind of behavior, reading to a group of active children, is tremendously out of character. It's bizarre."

"Great, so now he's bizarre along with being evil and tyrannical," Leia muttered softly.

/-

_Imperial Holonet Studio #1_

_10 minutes later_

"Good-bye, children," Palpatine said with a gentle smile, even as he patted one red headed moppet on the head. "It was so nice to meet you."

"Thank you, Mr. Emperor," the child responded gravely.

Palpatine chuckled at this form of address, then looked up as terror reeled through the Force from Relinka Spetzv, one of today's hosts for the reading event. The poor woman was horrified at the child's comment and possibly slightly Force Sensitive, because her distress was strong enough to be vaguely uncomfortable. Cray Shifton, at her side, was also unsettled, but not as severely.

"It is entirely all right, Host Spetzv," Palpatine said in a soft, reassuring tone, even as he sent a calming wave toward the woman. "Shall we sit down?"

Relinka nodded meekly and guided her liege to a nearby set of comfortable, black krayt dragon chairs.

Really, why did everything have to be unremitting black? Now that he was ensconced in the Light, he was aware of how dull black and grays were all the time. His throne room was black, his furniture was black, his clothes were black.

Vader was black.

His plushies weren't black. That was good. But he intended to add a little color to the rest of his surroundings.

"I'm sorry, Host Spetzv," he said vaguely, aware he had missed her previous sentence. "Would you be kind enough to repeat that?"

"I was just saying," the woman twittered nervously, "that it was most kind of you to read to the children."

"Oh, yes," Palpatine gushed. "I have to say that I have rarely enjoyed anything so much. That book was my very favorite as a young child, and it was an honor to read it to the little ones. And literacy is so important, don't you think?"

"Yes, your Highness."

If anything, Spetzv was generating even more horror in the Force. It was, Palpatine realized, mostly due to uncertainty. He had been distant and terrifying for many years and being semi-normal was apparently stressful for the poor woman.

"Lord Vader," he said aloud, tapping on his com. "Can you come in?"

That should bring everyone in the studio – hosts and techs alike – into a state of heightened alarm.

The door slid open and Darth Vader strode in, his mechanical breathing echoing in the now silent room. At his side was a young blond man dressed in dark tan fatigues and wearing what appeared to be a shock collar.

"Lord Vader," Cray Shifton squeaked nervously. "Would you care to sit down?"

Vader looked without enthusiasm at the chairs – all low, all squishy – and shook his great masked head, "No. Luke, sit next to the Emperor."

Palpatine smiled reassuringly at Skywalker, who looked uneasy. A skeletal hand patted the seat directly next to him, and the youth sat down gingerly.

"Hosts Spetzv and Shifton, indeed, the galaxy," Palpatine said with enthusiasm, "this is a truly special day. It is my honor to introduce you to Luke Skywalker, who is the son of Darth Vader."

Relinka Spetzv choked while simultaneously trying to breathe out and in, resulting in a horrific coughing fit. Cray Shifton was too stunned to do anything, so Luke leaped to his feet and ran over to pat the bewildered woman on the back.

"I think that was a little abrupt, your Highness," he said politely.

"Indeed, indeed," Palpatine agreed, rising to his feet in concern. The poor woman was now red faced and genuinely terrified.

"My apologies," the old man said gently, "I'm afraid I stated that too bluntly. But it is indeed wonderful news. My dear friend Lord Vader was quite convinced his son had died as an infant, for complicated reasons. To discover that young Skywalker is alive is truly a joy that I hope everyone will share."

Cray Shifton, with a grim look at his still sputtering co-host, heroically took on the task of negotiating this dangerous conversation.

"It is indeed a delight to hear this, Lord Vader, Your Highness, um ...,"

"Skywalker is fine," Luke said patiently, turning his attention on the male host. Spetzv had mostly recovered though her eyes were watering and her make-up smeared.

"So, are you willing to share with us where you've been the last ..."

"19 years?" Luke finished helpfully. "Well, I was on Tatooine for most of those years, but I joined the Rebel Alliance 6 months ago."

Cray's eyes bugged out and he turned a beseeching look on Spetzv. What was he supposed to say to that?

To his startled relief, Vader spoke up, "My son regrettably joined the Rebellion because of a false understanding of the ways of the galaxy. Now that we are reunited, his loyalty has shifted."

"No, it hasn't," Skywalker snarled, his blue eyes, previously so peaceful, suddenly blazing.

"The Rebellion ..." Vader began.

"Is fighting a tyrannical Empire," Luke snapped back. "Or at least the Empire, in its previous form, was tyrannical. Oh, and Host Shifton, Host Spetzv, everyone, I'm just going to get this out there. I fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star."

Shifton's wide eyes grew wider, and Spetzv emitted a bewildered squeak.

"I'm sorry, the Death Star?" Shifton asked in a puzzled tone.

"Armored space station," Skywalker replied succinctly. "It destroyed the planet Alderaan."

Relinka mewed in distress and Palpatine rose to his feet, his face grave, "Young Skywalker is correct. Alderaan was destroyed by a moon sized battle station called the Death Star. Regrettably, I was responsible for its construction, which took place over the course of nearly two decades. Governor Wilhuff Tarkin was its ultimate commander at the time, and he destroyed Alderaan, regrettably with my tacit approval. I deeply regret that decision now."

"Destroyed ..." Relinka began haltingly.

"Alderaan, yes," Palpatine said, his eyes sorrowful and blue. "It was a horrible, despicable act. To my current relief, young Skywalker was able to destroy the station only a few days later through a miraculous shot into a random thermal exhaust port. Regrettably, many of our own troops died that day, but the alternative was for Tarkin to destroy yet more populated planets. I am most thankful for young Luke here. I have come to realize that the Empire has been pursuing a dangerous and even evil path for many years, and I am determined to change its course. I have every confidence that Luke Skywalker will be of great assistance in this task."

"But I'm still a Rebel," Luke said firmly, his eyes fixed on his father's mask.

"No, you are not," Vader argued angrily. "You are my son."

"I can be your son and still be a Rebel."

"That is absurd ..."

"Lord Vader, Skywalker, perhaps we can continue this argument at a later time?" Palpatine interrupted firmly. "My dear Relinka, Host Shifton, thank you for your time today. It has been a pleasure."

/

_Main Cafeteria_

_Rebel Cruiser _Liberty

_Three hours later_

"This seat taken?" Han Solo drawled.

Leia looked up and apathetically waved a finger, "Sit down, Han."

Solo sat down and gazed worriedly at the princess. Leia was a vibrant person. She was occasionally happy, often irritable, always passionate. The only time he'd seen her really mellow was when she was staggering out of her room after a long nap. But right now, she was a washed out copy of her usual self.

"So, genetic scan?" Han asked gently.

Leia groaned aloud and picked at her convor eggs with her fork, "Yes, I finally did the test with the hair. Luke is indeed my brother."

"Well, I like that," Han stated firmly.

Leia lifted an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because he is no longer in the running for potential romantic partner of Leia Organa."

Leia blushed noticeably and smiled slightly, "True. I never really felt romantic inclinations towards him, so maybe at some level, I always knew."

A minute passed by with Leia gazing blankly at a wall and Han watching her worriedly.

"He might be lying," Solo said, finally.

Leia shook her head, "I don't think so. The Emperor says it, Vader says it, Luke says it, on the galactic Holonet of all places. No, Vader is my biological father. I love Luke to the Outer Regions but Vader ..."

"I'm sorry, Leia."

"I'm sorry too."

/


	14. Chapter 14

_Darth Vader's medical suite_

_Vader's Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_Two Weeks later_

Dr. Lenz Sert was dewy eyed with enthusiasm.

"The significant lung deficiency underlies most of his medical issues," he argued passionately. "If we can improve Lord Vader's breathing even 5%, the increased oxygen support will assist in all other phases of healing."

Dr. Fentesto shook his head, "But Dr. Sert, the long term underlying infection from the burns is placing a heavy load on Lord Vader's immune system. If we can treat the burns and the infection first ..."

/

_Lord Vader's sparring room_

_Lord Vader's Palace_

"That's right, Luke," Ahsoka encouraged, retreating a few steps before shifting her stance. "Balance offense and defense. Don't open yourself to a low strike. You don't want to lose a limb to an opponent."

Luke nodded gravely through his heavy breathing, "No, I definitely don't want to lose a limb."

/

_Emperor Palpatine's Throne Room_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

"Mara," Emperor Palpatine breathed, rising to his feet and taking a few faltering steps towards the redheaded Hand and her prisoner/guest.

"Master," Mara Jade replied, dropping to one knee. The man at her right did so as well, his face pale in the soft light of the Throne Room.

"Rise, both of you," Palpatine ordered sternly, even as his eyes shifted to the young man at Mara's right. He was young, only 18, and had reddish blond hair and blue eyes.

"You found him," the Emperor continued, gazing raptly at the youth.

"Yes, your Highness," Jade replied precisely. "I tracked him to the Niima Outpost on Jakku."

Palpatine shuddered slightly. Jakku was a desert planet and given how much Anakin/Vader whined about Tatooine, Jakku was probably quite a brutal place to grow up.

"You have done well, my child," he said gravely to Jade. "You are dismissed. Return to your quarters and await my orders."

"Yes, my Master," Jade replied with a bow of her head, and turned on her heel.

Palpatine waited for her to exit the room while he stared at his son. The youth had reddish blond hair and blue eyes, and was taller than the Emperor. Not that that was saying a lot; he had never been a tall man.

The boy looked downright terrified, which was not surprising. Palpatine briefly thought of reading him the _Wondrous Wanderings of the Woolly Bantha Cub, _then discarded the thought. The young man was indeed very young compared to Palpatine's 80+ years, but he wasn't a toddler.

"Well, young man," Palpatine said nervously, "I admit this is rather awkward for me. I'll just get to the point. What do you know about your parents?"

The blue eyes widened further in bewilderment and fear, "I d...don't know anything about them, your Highness."

"Nothing?"

The boy shook his head, his terror in the Force even more pronounced than before.

"Well, let's just get right to it, shall we?" Palpatine continued uneasily. "Your mother was a ... well, a lady of the evening by the name of Morigana and I ... I am your father."

The youth's mouth gaped open in astonishment, the rather starved form quivered in shock, and then the boy fell over in a dead faint.

Palpatine caught his son with ease and lowered him gently to the ground using the Force.

"Well, that didn't go as well as I hoped," he announced to the air.

/

_Imperial Outpost_

_Island B-23_

_Tion_

_1 day later_

"It will do," Ysanne Isard stated irritably, striding to a nearby window to stare gloomily at the vast ocean spreading into the distance.

"Yes, Director," Lieutenant Krud replied, then glanced around with a sneer marring his rather handsome features. "It's good enough for Rebel scum, definitely."

"Indeed," Isard agreed. "This outpost is crude, but large enough to hold dozens of pathetic Rebels while they 'recover' from Imperial imprisonment. At the right time, they can easily be put to death or, better yet, twisted into sleeper agents. Order my shuttle pilot to make ready for our departure."

"As you wish," Krud replied and reached for his com. A moment later, the dark haired man frowned and marched toward an exit door to the eating area. When he returned five minutes later, he was slightly pale.

"What is it?" Isard demanded angrily.

"Director," Krud said shakily. "While you were inspecting this outpost, our shuttle apparently departed."

Isard bared her teeth, her eyes flashing in rage, "What do you mean, the shuttle left? Where did it go?"

"I don't know, sir."

The woman sputtered in anger and grabbed her com, opening a channel to the Star Destroyer _Darkwate_r, which was in orbit around the oceanic planet of Tion.

A moment later, her com chimed and a transmission came through. Isard felt the breath catch in her throat at the face in her holocom.

"Director Isard," Palpatine said with a gentle smile, "I am afraid that your mission to Tion was a deception on my part. This recorded transmission will explain all. You are, regrettably, a face of the Empire which is no longer relevant to the new direction of my administration. You are capricious, dangerous, cruel, and traitorous to those around you. I do not feel that I can, in good conscience, murder you in cold blood since until recently, I too was a despotic leader. Therefore, I am marooning you on Tion, along with Lieutenant Krud, who is responsible for the deaths of at least 50 innocent civilians on Corellia. Star Destroyer _Darkwater_ will remain in orbit, and periodically new arrivals, also guilty of war crimes, will be deposited at your outpost on my orders. You will be appropriately supplied with food and necessities. Do not bother trying to swim for it, as the nearest island is some 900 kilometers away from your facility. Palpatine out."

Ysanne Isard stared at the com in her hand, then at the Lieutenant.

And then she let a piercing scream of rage and anguish.

/

_Luke Skywalker's private quarters_

"So you're the Emperor's son?" Luke said in a surprised tone, even as he rustled around in his cooler for a bottle of moof juice.

"I guess," Trey answered, looking around the room uneasily.

"I don't think the Emperor would lie about something like that."

"I guess," the youth said again, taking the moof juice and taking a slug.

"Your father really likes moof juice," Luke commented awkwardly.

The young man leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes before running a rather thin hand over his shaggy hair.

"This is insane."

"I thought the same thing," Luke replied with an understanding grimace. "It was only a few weeks ago that the Emperor told me that Darth Vader is my father. So you and I have quite a bit in common, I think. We both thought we were nobodies, and it turns out our fathers, at least, are very much somebodies."

Trey opened his eyes and his face, for the first time, was animated.

"You do get it, then," he said slowly. "No one else possibly can. Here I was, stuck on some random desert planet, and suddenly a beautiful redhead sweeps in and abducts me and hauls me off to the Emperor, who says I am his son."

Luke froze at these words and carefully lowered his own bottle of moof juice onto a handy table, "A desert planet? Not Tatooine."

"Jakku," Trey said with a shake of his head.

"I don't know much about Jakku," Luke admitted. "Is it sand as far as the eye can see?"

"Sand ... everywhere. It gets in your mouth, your nose ..."

"Your clothes."

The two young men brooded for a gloomy minute over the ubiquitous annoyance and horror of sand, and then Luke spoke up again.

"So were you ... alone?"

Trey nodded wearily, "For the last two years, yes. There was an old woman, Marsai, who took care of me when I was little. She died two years ago when an offworlder brought a virus into Niimi Outpost. I've been scavenging local shipwrecks ever since, barely earning enough to eat."

"I'm sorry."

Trey nodded moodily, "I am too. Marsai was kind and took good care of me. I never really knew why or how she came into my life but she was around for as long as I can remember."

"The Emperor didn't give any insight?" Luke asked curiously.

Trey blushed slightly even as he finished his bottle of moof juice, "I, uh, fainted when the Emperor told me that he is my father. I woke up in a medbay and haven't seen him since."

"He probably feels awkward about the whole thing," Luke offered. "I mean, obviously he hasn't been in your life all this time, plus until very recently he was completely evil. As hard as it is to admit, it is probably better that he wasn't paying attention to you 'til now."

"I don't understand how any of this can be happening," Trey said, his hands clutching his locks in distress.

"Welcome to the club."

/

_Recovery Outpost_

_Endor_

_One week later_

"This is crazy," Han Solo murmured softly.

"Yep," Leia agreed just as softly.

"It's probably a trap."

"Probably."

Han sighed and shrugged, even as he fingered his blaster carefully.

"Which patient do you wish to see?" a protocol droid inquired as Leia and Han approached the desk.

"Tricia Skylarn," Leia stated precisely, rising to her full height.

The droid hummed to itself, checked a digital record, then nodded its pink head toward the right corridor, "Good news, fair visitor. The patient Tricia Skylarn is in Room 136 and is not in quarantine. You may proceed to visit her immediately."

"Thank you," Leia replied courteously, and turned towards the room.

"I just hope Vader isn't skulking in there," Han muttered very quietly.

"Me too. I'd say there is like a 50% chance he is. Still not sure you should be here with me. He may not kill me, but ..."

"I'm not leaving you alone, your Highness. You get into way too much trouble without me."

Leia rolled her eyes at this even as she cautiously stepped into the med room. Lying on the bed, her brown eyes half closed, was her old friend and fellow survivor of Alderaan, Evaan Verlaine.

"May I help you?"

Leia turned nervously towards the med droid who was hovering over the instruments connected to her friend's body.

"I am a friend of the patient," she said carefully.

"Who is it?" Evaan asked softly, her eyes opening.

Leia turned to face her old friend. Surely even with her hair covered with a red wig, and wearing ridiculously high heeled boots, and with padding inside her mouth to make her cheeks fuller, and with violet lenses on her eyes, her dear friend would recognize her.

"Who are you?" Evaan demanded nervously, sitting up slightly. The med droid clucked in dismay at this motion and Leia sighed to herself. Apparently not.

"So, can you tell me what is wrong with the patient?" Han asked suddenly. He too, looked thoroughly odd with his hair dyed purple and his skin dyed light green. Any Imperial recognition program worth its Bellassan pepper would recognize him, but the average sentient should not.

"I'm sorry, sir," the med droid said in a rather prissy, thoroughly horrified tone, "that information is private."

"Well," Han continued determinedly, "can you tell me about Endor?"

"Oh yes, sir! Endor is a beautiful place, filled with trees and streams and small, cuddly bears called Ewoks. It is a perfect place for patients and family alike to recover from ..."

Under cover of the med droid's chatter, Leia came close to Evaan and gently touched her hand, "Evaan, it's me, Leia Organa."

The brown eyes flashed wide in shock and a moment later, Leia saw recognition cross the woman's face.

"Your Highness," she murmured in horror, "what are you doing? This has to be a trap! You need to go!"

"Not without you."

"They will never let me go," Evaan whispered desperately.

"We have to try," Leia said determinedly.

_/_

_Millennium Falcon_

_In hyperspace en route_

_1 hour later_

"Is it just me, or was that ridiculously easy?" Solo demanded suspiciously.

Leia Organa finished tucking a blanket around Evaan's thin shoulders even as she shook her head, "It does seem absurd, but there isn't any way they can be tracking us, right? We took a stolen ship to Endor, grabbed Evaan, rendezvoused with the_ Falcon_, and abandoned the other ship. Chewie was on board the _Falcon _the whole time, so they aren't tracking us."

"We'll still drop out of hyperspace and adjust our course a few times before the rendezvous."

"Good idea."

Leia took one last look at her sleeping friend, dimmed the lights in the cabin and walked out of the room to join Han in the main crew area. Han wandered over to the galley and began poking around in the storage lockers, searching for sustenance.

"You look good in green," the princess said suddenly, smirking.

Solo winked at her, "Of course I do. And you look good as a redhead."

Leia shook her head slightly, "It was a huge relief ditching the wig when we boarded the Falcon. It was heavy."

"So how do you think your friend is?"

Leia sighed, "Very thin,, and there are signs of torture, but I hope she'll be Ok. I still find it impossible to believe that Palpatine is truly just releasing prisoners, but I am grateful to have Evaan back, regardless of his reasons."

"So she actually knew your mom, right?"

"Yes, Queen Breha tutored a few of the Alderaanian youth and Evaan was one of those young people. She is very loyal to House Organa in particular and the Alderaanian diaspora in general."

"And she was captured how long ago?"

"Two months," Leia said gravely. "A lifetime to be imprisoned by the Imperials."

"So," Solo said, changing the subject, "you said you'd tell me about the High Command meeting after we rescued your friend. How did they take the whole Skywalker/Vader news?"

Leia gratefully took a cup of tea from the scruffy Corellian and wandered over to an even scruffier couch, tucking her feet under her and taking a sip.

"It went great," the woman said offhandedly.

"You told them everything?" Han probed.

"Everything we know for sure. Luke Skywalker is my twin brother. Darth Vader might be my father, and Luke's as well. The Emperor is acting really strangely, perhaps because he had a weird twin brother who is dead at Luke's hands, apparently."

"And ..."

"And they were surprised, of course, but no one threw rotten Jogan fruit at me."

Han relaxed his shoulders and took a deep breath before sitting down next to the dark haired girl, "I'm glad, Leia. I know it would have bothered you if they'd, you know ..."

"Assumed that if Vader is my father, I must be inherently evil?" Leia asked drily. "I admit I was worried too, but everyone was very gracious about it. I suppose being tortured mercilessly by Vader himself, and watching my planet blow up, gives me lots of Rebel cred."

"So how are you doing with it all?" Solo asked softly.

Leia took another sip and stared at the wall thoughtfully.

"You know, I'm Ok," she said finally. "I hate Vader's guts, of course."

"Of course."

"But my true parents were fabulous people and they raised me. I'm worried about Luke. I'm confused about my own heritage and I do wonder if I'm Force Sensitive too. But Vader isn't me and never will be me, if that makes sense."

"It makes all the sense in the world," Han said agreeably, "for one thing, you are a little bit prettier than he is."

Leia whacked the pilot gently with a random pillow and gave him a kiss.

_Author Note: I decided to have Rebel High Command be slightly sensible and not treat Leia like a possible traitor just because dear old paternal parent might be Darth Vader. Obviously she loathes the man and isn't in league with him._


	15. Chapter 15

_Author Note: My apologies for the long delay in updating this fic. Other writing got in my way. I hope and pray you all are surviving Ok during this coronavirus craziness._

_/_

_Dusk_

_Palace Garden_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_2 weeks later_

"So how did a quadrillion beings manage any kind of a democracy during the days of the Republic?" Trey Palpatine inquired in some confusion.

"They did not," Vader said coldly. "The Republic was a morass of inept bureaucrats, labyrinthine rules, and layers and layers of subcommittees. It was rare that anything useful or pertinent was done."

"On the other hand," Sheev Palpatine commented thoughtfully, "I would not say we have done much better. Regrettably, the Empire is also filled with bureaucrats, many of them corrupt and cruel. Furthermore, there is as much, if not more, corruption in the Empire than there was in the very worst days of the Old Republic."

Trey Palpatine frowned at these words before returning his attention to the datapad in his hands.

"What about … er … your wife, Lord Vader," he continued nervously. "I've been reading her speeches and position statements and she seems like a very competent individual."

Luke, who had been slouching near the fire browning his marshmallows, sat up suddenly in surprise, "You have access to my mother's speeches?"

Trey grinned and poked his new friend in the leg, "I told you that my father had given me a bunch of political files from the Old Republic. You didn't want to look at them."

Luke groaned dramatically even as he carefully took a bite of luscious marshmallow.

"Politics," he muttered thickly with a wave of his clean hand, "are usually very boring. I didn't know my mom's speeches were in the mix."

"Well, I didn't either," Trey admitted, "not until this morning. She seems like she was an absolutely brilliant person and very committed."

"She was," Vader said, his voice strange through the vocoder.

Luke looked up, craning his head to gaze at the mask of his father. Vader was, as usual when his son was not safely tucked in his room, looming carefully and ominously. Apparently even in the middle of the palace garden, with the two most powerful Force Sensitives in the galaxy on guard, the cyborg Sith was fearful that someone or something would kidnap, accost, murder, interview, or otherwise annoy his precious son.

"She sounds amazing," Luke said with a gentle smile at his father.

"Padme combined political acumen with charm and beauty. She was also genuinely compassionate," Palpatine said softly, his blue eyes sad. "You, your sister and your father are of course the greatest victims in her loss, but the whole galaxy is poorer without her."

There was a sudden Force propelled gust of wind, causing the bonfire to shimmer and shake, and Luke rolled to his feet to put a gentle hand on his father's now rigid arm, "Come on, Father. I want to play in the water."

The giant cyborg chuckled softly at these words, but allowed himself to be shepherded toward a large fountain in the middle of the garden which boasted a three meter tall statue of Palpatine with water spurting from his hands. The symbolism seemed very odd to Luke, but he loved to splash in the pool at the base of the fountain regardless of the hour.

"So Father," Trey asked hesitantly.

"Yes, my son?"

"In reading about the political issues in the last decades of the Old Republic, it seems that a substantial problem was the treatment of the Outer Rim territories. Luke tells me the Hutts are largely a violent race, involved in slavery and the spice trade among other dubious operations, but even the Jedi apparently did not protest their behavior. That seems odd."

"That is an excellent point, Trey," Palpatine replied, leaning back in his comfortable chair even as he hovered a marshmallow in the fire. He liked them lightly browned, not singed. "The truth is that the Old Republic always focused more attention on the Core Worlds, which played into my hands in my evil days because the Separatists …"

Luke Skywalker, who had removed his boots and socks and was now wading in the fountain, glanced up at his hovering father with a thoughtful frown, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Is it just me, or does Trey Palpatine have remarkable political ability? I mean, he's been stranded on the back end of nowhere and yet he obviously is eating up all these complex treatises and historical documents."

Darth Vader turned to look at the young man, who was leaning forward listening to the Emperor, his face intense.

"He is absolutely brilliant, Luke."

/

_Medical Bay_

_Imperial Palace_

_The next morning_

"Looking good, Skyguy," Ahsoka said with her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I would not call it good, precisely," Vader said self consciously. "I am much improved, however."

Ahsoka smiled a little sadly. Anakin Skywalker had been a remarkably handsome man, with waving dark blond hair and a cleft in his chin that made fangirls go weak at the knees. He was now bald and scarred, but she knew his skin and various organs had improved significantly even in the last couple of weeks

"So what are we doing today?" Luke asked curiously, wandering into the room.

"Lungs!" Ahsoka chortled happily. "I want to work on Skyguy's lungs."

"Lungs it is.

/

_Emperor Palpatine's office_

"Outer moving towards inner, inner moving towards outer," Trey Palpatine stated obscurely.

"My apologies, Trey," the Emperor murmured, staring at his son curiously. The boy had gained substantial weight since his rescue from Jakku, though he looked tired this morning. "I don't understand what you mean. I am also concerned at how fatigued you appear to be. Are you well?"

Trey waved a casual hand, "I didn't sleep last night because I was reading political treatises."

"Son, you shouldn't do that," Palpatine stated worriedly. "I appreciate your commitment to analyzing the political situation, but you need to sleep. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything."

"I promise I'll take a nap," Trey assured his aged sire, "but I just wanted to get my arms around the Outer Rim situation. Here's what I'm thinking, though of course I could be wrong. The Alliance doesn't trust the Empire and the Empire doesn't trust the Alliance. The Outer Rim needs intervention because the Hutts and their sundry, unpleasant cohorts are enslaving some people and persecuting other people. I'm thinking maybe the Empire should send in a few teams, kill off the higher level Hutts and maybe the leaders of Black Sun operating in the area …?"

"Yes?" Palpatine encouraged him, leaning forward.

"Then leave and let the Alliance move into the resulting political and economic vacuum. I mean, you trust the Alliance to mostly have good intentions, correct?"

Palpatine nodded, "Indeed. I'm the one who has been the wicked, overbearing, maniacal despot. Of course, the leadership of the Alliance isn't perfect, but they have, by and large, good intentions."

"So you and Lord Vader could work on the Core Worlds to improve freedom and the like, and the Alliance could work in the Outer Rim worlds. That way there will be less friction between the Alliance and Empire, and both can be doing good work."

Palpatine stared at the youth long enough that Trey blushed in confusion.

"Maybe it's not," he began, only to stop when the Emperor leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Trey," he said firmly. "It's brilliant."

/

_Imperial Holonet Studio #3_

_2 days later_

"Welcome, Prince Luke."

Luke cringed in open horror and shook his head, "Um, I'm so not a prince, Host Spetzv. I mean, just ... no."

"But Lord Vader is the heir to the Emperor, is he not?" Relinka demanded with dewy eyed enthusiasm, her glossy purple hair bouncing excitedly. "You are Lord Vader's heir so if you are not a prince, perhaps ... Lord Skywalker?"

Luke winced, "No, that's even worse. Look, just, um, call me Skywalker, please. I don't exactly have a formal position right now."

"Very well, Skywalker," Spetzv said in a clearly disappointed tone.

"I am here because I want to talk to a friend of mine, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

Relinka's disappointed pout morphed into open delight, "Princess Leia! She's your ... friend? That is truly exciting, Luke. Can I call you Luke?"

"Yes," Luke replied in genuine horror, "but don't get any ideas about Leia and me ..."

"Oh, it's Leia, is it?" Relinka replied with a knowing smirk. "Well, that is truly exciting. The son of Darth Vader carrying a plasma torch for the princess of lost Alderaan ..."

"No, no, no!" Luke cried out, his eyes bugging with dismay. "No, it's not like that at all. She's, er, well, anyway, Leia, if you see this, call me at 1-755-247-9333. I have to talk to you!"

/

_Millennium Falcon_

_In space 2 parsecs out from Sullust_

_12 hours later_

"Are we set up?" Leia asked nervously.

"You bet, Leia," Han replied. "Don't worry, we're far enough out from the gravity well of Sullust that we can get out immediately if the Empire comes calling."

"Ok," Leia sighed, and carefully dialed the appropriate number to connect to Luke on the Holonet.

There were whirrs and clicks and then a background picture of the Manarai Mountains appeared on the screen.

"Hello," a mellifluous voice announced. "Due to the high volume of callers wishing to speak to Luke Skywalker, son of Darth Vader, you must answer the following four questions in order to be connected. Please do not type too quickly. Please answer in Galactic Basic. Press the ^ key when you are ready to answer the questions. Thank you."

"What?!" Leia demanded incredulously.

"Makes sense," Han pointed out gloomily. "The Kid's hot stuff on the marriage market among the Imperial elite, and he just handed out his Holonet number."

Leia groaned aloud and pressed the ^ key.

"Question #1," the voice said cheerfully, even as a text box appeared with the same words. "What cell block were you imprisoned in on the Death Star?"

Leia's eyes widened in disbelief, "What? I don't know!"

"Cell block AA23," Han said authoritatively, leaning forward to enter the required answer.

There was a beep and the voice stated, "Correct!"

"How did you know that?" Leia demanded

"Listen, even in my wide and varied and fascinating life, I'd never broken a high ranking prisoner out of a Death Star before, especially a prisoner who promptly and gratuitously insulted me. Of course I remember."

"It wasn't gratuitous," Leia hissed, then turned back to the holoterminal, which was speaking again.

"Question #2, What is last name of the couple who raised Luke Skywalker from infancy."

Leia sighed and entered, "Lars."

"Correct!"

"Question #3, what is your favorite color?"

Leia smiled and typed in, "Green."

"Green, really?" Han demanded. "Since when have you worn green?"

"I was the heir of Alderaan so I had to wear white. It was tradition!"

"Last question, of all the men in your life, which handsome and cocky individual is most likely to win your heart and hand? Last name only."

Leia stared at the screen, then at a smirking Solo, then back at the screen, "I'm going to kill him."

"Solo," she typed in.

There were more whirrs and beeps and the voice stated, "Correct. Please hold for connection."

/

_Luke's quarters_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial Center_

Luke heard the welcome ping of the holotransmitter and promptly dropped several floating cups, one of which landed on the bare toes of his left foot.

"Ouch!" he yelped, even as he dove for the transmitter and punched the acceptance button.

The image on the holoterminal shifted briefly and then formed to reveal the beautiful face of his twin sister, Leia Organa.

"Leia!"

"Luke!"

The twins gazed at one another adoringly across the lightyears, and both were pleased at what they saw. Luke looked healthy and well, and Leia, though she looked tired, was as lovely as ever.

"Are you all right?" they both asked simultaneously, then laughed in sync.

"Ok, I don't want to take a long time," Luke said, "and I know you don't want to hang out anywhere in particular for more than ..."

"Ten minutes," Leia agreed. "That's our limit. Do you think this transmission is being tracked?"

Luke shrugged a little, "The Emperor says not, and as weird as it sounds, I trust him. But reality is there is a lot going on here, lots of upheaval. I am not positive that even Palpatine is entirely in control of his security forces at this point. I am confident of the encryption so no one is watching this, but I wouldn't be positive some nefarious underling isn't trying to locate you."

"Did they hurt you, Luke?" Leia demanded.

Luke shook his head firmly, "No, I'm good. Fortunately the Emperor found me just as he figured out his evil twin brother was manipulating him. So I'm fine, more than fine. Ahsoka is training me and Father and I are getting to know one another so it's been really good."

Leia winced at the casual use of 'Father', but she forged on with determination, "Tano is training you? Not Vader?"

"Ahsoka is in charge of my training. Vader observes and occasionally makes suggestion but I run everything through her first. Also, as weird as it sounds, a couple of Force ghosts show up periodically to give insight so that's reassuring."

"How, in any way, is it reassuring that you are seeing ghosts?" Leia demanded with asperity. Were they drugging her precious brother?

Luke chuckled, his blue eyes alight with amusement, "That does sound odd, doesn't it? They are the ghosts of Ben Kenobi and a Jedi named Qui-Gon Jinn. It's a Force thing, obviously. Anyway, they are working with Ahsoka to guide me and her. It just ... helps me trust the process."

Leia blinked and decided to shelve the ghost issue for now, "Ok, what about me?"

"Vader wants you here," Luke said flatly.

"Only if I'm dead," Leia replied, just as flatly.

"I understand that," her brother replied softly, "and as much as I miss you, I think you are better off with the Alliance. The only thing is ..."

He trailed off and Leia leaned forward, "What?'

"Vader will be ... upset, if something happens to you and you live a dangerous life. He's worried."

"Worried about me?" Leia demanded in outrage. "He nearly killed me."

"Yes, which makes it worse. He feels guilty and he wants to protect you, but he can't. I mean, he really is a screwed up person with trust issues and fears for people he cares about. He lost his mother on Tatooine to the sand people, and he lost our mother, and he's, uh, obsessive about the two of us. So be careful, Leia. Don't die or anything inconvenient like that."

Leia smiled a little at this, though she heard the underlying concern in her brother's voice under the banter. It was ironic that Luke, a prisoner of the Empire, was worried about her safety.

"I'm always careful," she teased back.

"Right. Anyway, we don't have much time and I wanted to tell you the plan that Trey Palpatine has about the Outer Rim."

Leia's eyes popped wide, "Trey Palpatine? Who is that?"

"Oh, I thought Alliance spies might have heard about him already. Palpatine has a son, a little younger than we are. Politically brilliant. Just rescued from Jakku, which is as lousy as Tatooine. He's a great guy and his insight blows me away."

Leia's brain was whirling but time was running out, "He's a Force sensitive?"

"Nope, but like our mother, he's brilliant in other areas. So Leia, what do you know about the Hutts?"

/

Re Trey Palpatine - I know in Rise of Skywalker that Palpatine's "son" is a clone, I guess? I'm AU'ing it here, obviously!


	16. Chapter 16

_Therapy Room_

_Imperial Basement_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_2 weeks later_

"Hello, Sheev."

Palpatine opened his eyes in surprise and sat up slightly, allowing the mud to slide off his torso. The mud felt delightfully squishy.

"Jinn!"

"You look good," the ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn commented.

"I feel good," the Emperor returned, lowering his right hand into the purplish mud. "The combination of Light Force healing, medicinal mud, plushies, and the death of my brother has done wonders for my health."

"Well, good, good," Jinn replied, rather wide eyed.

"So how are things in the Force Afterlife?" Palpatine asked casually, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"They are well enough," the ghost replied with some uncertainty. "I am here to ask you a question."

"Ask away."

"Would you be interested in speaking to Master Yoda?"

Palpatine blinked in surprise and held out a hand to a small towel, which leaped into his hand. He carefully wiped off his face with it and then nodded graciously, "Certainly. I'd be delighted to see Yoda whenever he had time to appear in all his spectral glory. I would very much welcome his insight into healing the galaxy."

There was an anxious twitch in the Force and Palpatine looked up in bewilderment, "Is there a problem? I realize our last interaction was quite negative, what with us battling with lightsabers while I threw Force Lightning around erratically, but I've changed. Please assure him of that."

Jinn sighed and lowered himself into a cross legged position, "The thing is, Sheev, Yoda is still alive."

"Really!? Well, that old gnome is just full of surprises! Where has he been hiding himself all these years?"

Again, Jinn hesitated and Palpatine lifted up a muddy hand, "It's quite all right. You need not tell me until you are ready."

"Dagobah," the specter said quickly, "and you'll have to send a rescue team. He has many skills, but keeping a spaceship in working order in the middle of a swamp is not one of them."

"I can certainly manage that."

/

_Landing Bay_

_Jabba's Palace_

_Nondescript but powerful freighter_

_Tatooine_

_Dusk_

_2 weeks later_

"I had forgotten how much I hate this planet," Luke Skywalker muttered softly.

"I had not forgotten," Darth Vader replied starkly.

"I don't know," Ahsoka murmured, gazing out the cockpit onto the endless vista of sand. On the horizon, the second sun was dipping its golden orb below the distant hills. "It's stark but beautiful, don't you think?"

"No," father and son stated simultaneously.

Tano chuckled and glanced towards the back of their ship, "Are you ready, Luke?"

"Yes," Luke replied, rising to his feet. "Let's do this."

"Be careful, Son," Vader ordered sternly.

Luke's eyes twinkled but he merely nodded obediently, "I will, Father. You be careful too."

Two minutes later, Luke descended the ramp onto the sandy ground with three 'slaves' in tow. An Ithorian was standing waiting for them with a couple of Gamorrean guards at his back. The Ithorian was wearing shabby leather clothing and his left eye looked like it had gone through a meat grinder. Not a healthy sentient.

"Is this the lot?" the Ithorian demanded, barely looking at Luke. Luke, with brown dyed hair and green lensed eyes, was dressed in shabby brown robes and had a few artistically applied scars on his face. He looked pretty scruffy, but clearly Jabba's staff was used to various and sundry disreputable types appearing on their doorstep.

"That's them," Luke agreed, pointing a thumb at the Emperor's Hands Aralina and Brilana Silk plus Mara Jade. All three were scantily clad and wore shock collars, none of which were functional.

"Is one of 'em a clone?" the Ithorian inquired of the twins.

"Identical twins from normal birth," Luke replied.

The Ithorian gazed at the women with a definite leer in his decent eye, and Luke took a deep breath to keep from lashing out physically or verbally. This was all part of the plan. Part of the plan.

"This way. We'll check to make sure they are healthy, but Jabba will be most pleased with them. You'll make a decent amount, Trader Stryx."

Within the ship, Vader and Ahsoka watched as Luke departed with the three Hands on tow.

"Don't worry," the Togruta said even as she whacked her former master affectionately on the arm. "Luke's amazingly advanced considering his limited training and the Hands will keep him safe. They are an accomplished bunch."

"Accomplished, perhaps," Vader agreed, rising to his feet and striding toward the rear of the freighter. "I fear they may have underlying hostility towards my son. He has admitted to being not just a Rebel, but the individual who destroyed the Death Star."

"Nonsense. Palpatine himself ordered them to watch out for Luke. Besides, your son is a very charming guy. I can tell they like him."

Darth Vader stopped abruptly, causing Tano to almost run into him.

"What's eating you now?" she demanded, exasperated.

"They ... like him?!" Vader asked in his most suspicious tone. It was not nearly as intimidating as in the past since he wasn't using the vocoder, but he still managed to sound threatening past the oxygen mask over his scarred but much healthier face.

Ahsoka stared at him and groaned aloud, "Don't be a ninny, Skyguy. They just like him as a person. Because he is likeable. They don't like him ... that way. Not yet anyway."

Not surprisingly, this comment was not entirely reassuring and Vader stiffened in outrage.

"My son deserves far better than a mere Hand."

The Togruta rolled her eyes, "We are not talking about this now! We have a mission, remember? Let's get that completed and then discuss your son's love life."

She maneuvered around Vader in the passage and quickly hit the release button for a door.

The door slid open and she smiled, "Hello, my darlings."

/

Jabba the Hutt leaned over and put a pudgy hand into the aquarium where four hapless paddy frogs were wiggling happily. He gazed thoughtfully at them for a moment, then plunged an expert hand in and grabbed the fattest, which froze in shock at its sudden capture. A moment later, the blobby Hutt had thrown the frog into his mouth.

Utterly delicious.

He glanced around with satisfaction. It had been a good day. His latest dancer had annoyed him and been fed to the rancor below the throne room. Jabba loved feeding the rancor.

Better yet, he'd received word that three lovely human female slaves had just arrived for purchase, all of whom were apparently dancers. Delightful. He always got tired of his dancers and fed them to the rancor eventually, but three of them might keep him happy for a few weeks.

There was a sudden thunder of feet from the entrance leading to the landing bays and Jabba turned his head with some difficulty. He really had gained quite a bit of weight in the last few years. Maybe he should go on a diet. But then, if he didn't get to eat what he wanted, when he wanted, as much as he wanted, was life really worth living?

With shocking speed, a pack of Vask-wolves suddenly surged into the room, their tongues hanging and their fangs glistening in the dim light. Before he recovered from his confusion enough to yell, the lead creature leapt forward and went for his neck, sinking it's extremely sharp teeth into the soft skin.

He screamed now, screamed in agony and rage as the other wolves attacked him, some biting his bulgy body, two took an arm – one even attacked his precious tail. There was yelling from his guards and blasters going off but somehow the vicious gray beasts were continuing their attack. His orange blood was sloshing onto his body and he was crying out from pain and fear and no one was rescuing him, he was injured, he was dying ...

/

_Slave Quarters_

_Jabba's Palace_

An alarm went off, causing the Galderian slave master to turn away from Luke and the three Hands. A moment later, Luke chopped his head off with his blue lightsaber, then deflected a blast from a startled guard in the corner even as Mara Jade grabbed the slave master's blaster and shot two more guards.

Brilana and Aralina Silk, moving as one, strode over to the exit door, opened it, and moved to the right a few meters.

"Slave quarters this way," Brilana called out calmly. "We'll free them."

"Jabba's bleeding out," Luke told Mara, even as he began setting charges in the corridor to the left. The slaves would have a far greater chance of escaping if they were separated by collapsed tunnels from Jabba's loathsome minions.

"Good," Mara replied matter of factly. "I knew the wolves could take him."

"I'm a little surprised," Luke admitted. "I understand the Vask wolves have a tremendous sense of smell, but there have to be a million other smells competing for attention in this filthy cesspool of sentienty. Father says they went right for Jabba."

"My babies are quite capable of following a single borrat through the sewers of Imperial City," Mara stated with a sniff. "They couldn't miss a gigantic Hutt. I just hope Vader and Tano take care of my sweeties."

Luke shot her a look of wonder. The Loth wolves were large, scary, hideous, and ferocious. Sweeties? Really?

"I'm certain they will return them in good health," he said in a placating tone.

"Don't patronize me, Skywalker."

/

_Jabba's Throne Room_

Ahsoka gestured from the alcove where she and Vader were hiding and yanked a blaster to the right, causing the bolt to veer away from the Vask wolf currently chewing on Jabba's tail.

"The Hutt is dead," Vader murmured even as he used the Force to open the grate on the floor of the Throne Room, causing many of Jabba's confused flunkeys to slide into the rancor cage below them.

Ahsoka nodded professionally, lifted a whistle hanging on a string on her neck, and blew it.

Without hesitation, the entire pack of wolves abandoned the corpulent corpse and ran happily toward the twosome, easily evading the open pit on the floor.

Vader and Tano strode quickly back toward the landing bay with a slave transmitter deactivation wand snagged from the corpse of Bib Fortuna, Jabba's major domo. Luke and the Hands were waiting for them, along with a host of prisoners and slaves. Thirty minutes later, the chips were deactivated, and four ships were in the air and blasting out into space with their rescued cargo on board.

/

_Roof_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_Afternoon _

"My dear Master Yoda," Palpatine said with a cry of pleasure. "How delightful to see you after all these years."

The tiny Jedi Master leaped casually from the two person fighter and dropped to the floor, then stumped over to his former nemesis.

The tiny Jedi tilted his head and gazed directly into Palpatine's blue eyes, then shook his head.

"Thought this day would come I did not," the old elf commented.

"Neither did I, Master Jedi. Neither did I."


	17. Chapter 17

_Therapy Room_

_Imperial Basement_

_Imperial Palace_

_Imperial City_

_Imperial Center_

_The next day_

"You are quite certain you don't want to enjoy the medicinal mud?" Sheev Palpatine asked conscientiously. "It has truly done wonders for my skin."

"Two decades spent living in bog have I," Master Yoda replied firmly. "Dry heat I want, not mud."

The Emperor frowned in concern at the small gnome lying under the sun lamp but shrugged slightly. No doubt the old Jedi knew what he was doing, though his skin already looked very wrinkled and dry.

"Here comes Trey!" the former Sith cried out with excitement, turning toward the door.

A moment later, his still overly thin son walked hesitantly inside, carefully guarded by four red robed Imperial Guards and the Hand Jasun Krill.

"Come here, Son," Sheev said with a welcoming gesture. "I wish to introduce you to Jedi Grandmaster Yoda, my former adversary and nemesis, now cautious ally."

Trey sidled forward nervously, his expression worried.

Yoda pushed the sun lamp away with the Force and hopped to his feet, his aged eyes focused on the young man.

"Good to meet you it is, young Palpatine."

Trey shot a horrified look at his father, who smiled reassuringly, "Master Yoda has been annoying people with his speech patterns for many hundreds of years. It is part of his eccentricity."

"Eccentric I am not!" Yoda insisted.

"It is either eccentric, or loopy," Palpatine replied helpfully. "I would go with eccentric if I were you."

The large green eyes rolled and the slight gnome hobbled forward to place a cautious hand on Trey's knee. He focused his power on the youth and then turned to the former Sith with surprise on his face, "Not sensitive to the Force at all, he is!"

"I know," the Emperor agreed. "Such a gift, truly. Malvos would have done something horrible to or with Trey if he had been a Force Sensitive. No, Trey is completely blind to the Force but he has amazing political abilities. I am so very proud of him."

Master Yoda gazed up at the perplexed face above him and smiled gently, "Glad I am that your son lives. Most glad."

/

_Dilapidated freighter_

_Approaching Rebel Base_

_Ryloth_

"Not much to look at it, is it?" Ahsoka murmured aloud.

"Most Rebel bases aren't," Luke agreed. "We aren't planning on staying long — we'll unload the former slaves and get out of here. Leia said it could get complicated if we stayed long enough to be recognized. Not that anyone probably will. I look weird."

"You do look weird, Skywalker," Mara Jade agreed. She had changed out her rancid slave girl outfit and now was wearing a practical tan outfit

"I do," Luke agreed. "Dark hair isn't really my thing."

"With dark hair you look like your mother," Vader suddenly said in one of his periodic forays into soulful reminiscing.

"I do?" Luke asked skeptically. "I don't see it."

"You do," Ahsoka averred, "though Princess Leia is her very image."

"What about the princess?" Aralina Silk inquired curiously. She and her twin were seated in a corner of the cockpit, playing a card game that Luke didn't recognize.

"Leia is my twin sister and she looks like our mother, Padme," Luke explained.

A moment passed in silence.

"What?" Aralina demanded, dropping her cards and turning to face Darth Vader's son.

"Leia Organa is my twin sister," Luke frowned. "You know all about twins. Obviously we're fraternal whereas you are identical."

Aralina blinked at the young man and a smile stretched across her face, "So what you are saying, Skywalker, is that Princess Leia is your sister, not your girlfriend."

Luke was horrified, "Girlfriend? No, of course not! Where would you get that idea."

"From that stupid interview with Relinka Spetzv," Brilana commented. "Ara, are we playing or not?"

"I'm done," Aralina said cheerfully. "I am basking in the new reality that Luke Skywalker, son of Darth Vader, is romantically available."

Vader jerked in outrage, "My son is not …"

"Father …"

"Ara, don't poke the rancor!"

"Starting landing sequence," Ahsoka cried thankfully.

Luke, who was simultaneously blushing and sending calming thoughts towards his outraged father, was suddenly hit with a lightning bolt of awareness.

"Leia!"

/

Leia Organa, flanked by a rather nervous Han Solo, stood at the bottom of the ramp of the freighter and she saw him coming down the ramp and he was running and then they were in one another's arms and he was alive and she was alive and they were together again.

Together.

"Leia, oh Leia! What a glorious surprise! And Han! This is wonderful!"

"Luke," she murmured, stepping back to stare into her brother's beloved face. "What have you done with your hair?!"

"Um, dyed it black," Luke stated, plucking at the two centimeter length strands. "''Cause I was undercover at Jabba's palace."

"It looks weird, Kid," Han said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. Luke looked Ok aside from the green eyes and dark hair. He didn't look evil and/or demented. That was reassuring, and somewhat surprising after months in Imperial custody.

"I don't think he looks weird," a new voice commented flirtatiously.

Luke huffed in exasperation, "Leia, Han, this is Aralina Silk, closely followed by her twin sister Brilani. They are both Emperor's Hands, a group of Force Sensitives who serve the Empire. And this is Mara Jade, another Hand."

Leia frowned at the threesome, "Like ... junior Sith Lords?"

"We are not strong enough in the Force to be Sith Lords," Mara said, slightly gloomily.

"Which is fine with me," Aralina said firmly. "Being a Sith Lord means a whole lot of work, even more work than we usually have. I'm happy being a Hand."

Leia stared at Aralina in confusion and Brilana wrapped an arm around her twin, "Don't mind Ara, your Highness. The Emperor got rid of most of the really cruddy overseers among the Hands, and she's a bit goofy with pleasure. Our lives haven't been very easy, truthfully, what with our parents being murdered and us spending most of our childhoods being brutally trained."

"It wasn't that bad," Mara said defensively.

"It was worse than bad," Aralina snapped back. "Don't honey coat it, Jade. It was horrible."

"I'm sorry," Luke said awkwardly, even as Ahsoka and Vader reached the bottom of the ramp. "And this is Ahsoka Tano, Leia."

"Fulcrum," the princess murmured. "Welcome."

"And of course, you know ... um..Vader."

Leia blinked in astonishment at the tall form who was looming over Luke, his blue eyes fixed on her own countenance.

"Excuse me, what?" she sputtered.

"Um, Father had some work done ..."

"Where's the mask? The repetitive, obnoxious breathing? The dark flowing cape?" Solo inquired.

"We were undercover, Solo," the Dark Lord hissed. "It was obviously not possible for me to appear as usual."

"So it was all for show?" Leia demanded angrily. "The whole thing was just for intimidation?"

"No," Luke said quickly. "No. He was a physical wreck and kind of still is. I mean ..."

"Clearly, from the exposed scarring on my face, you can see that I was badly burned," Vader continued coldly. "I was seared over 100% of my body and was locked in that life support suit for the last two decades. It is only with Luke and Ahsoka's help, and significant up to date medical intervention, that I have achieved my current state of comparative health. I was a walking wreck for many years, Princess."

Leia tilted her head thoughtfully, "I see."

"And may I say," the cyborg continued, clearly nervous, "that I am pleased to see you are doing well?"

Leia's eyes narrowed into slits and she took an impetuous step forward, "You may not. We are not friends, Lord Vader, you got that? We are enemies, through and through. You tortured me. I hate your guts. We can discuss political issues but we are not exchanging pleasantries."

Vader's exposed face grew unnervingly blank and he nodded, "As you wish."

"We should get the rescued slaves off the ship," Luke said hastily, glancing worriedly between his father and sister.

"Yes," Tano agreed, grabbing Vader's arm and yanking him gently back toward the ship. "Come on, Skyguy."

/

_Trey Palpatine's main living room_

_Imperial Palace_

_That evening_

Sheev Palpatine lay on his back on the floor, watching the dozens of glow balls circling over his head.

They were a children's toy, sold by the dozens in toy stores across the galaxy. Even a month ago, he would have disdained the pleasure of watching them swirl above him with the power of the Force.

It was so relaxing and pleasant and _good_. Why had he ever thought that the Dark Side was the best way? In his heyday as a Sith Lord, the most fun he had was electrocuting someone to death. How crazy was that? The galaxy was full of beautiful and lovely and fun things, like glow balls and baby shaaks and hot chocolate, and for years, decades even, he had disdained them all in favor of being a grumpy, angry, raging, malevolent, manipulative Sith Lord.

It was totally pathetic.

"Father?"

Palpatine sat up suddenly and smiled at his son, "Yes?"

"Um ..." the youth continued, his eyes drifting to the glowing galaxy of balls.

"I'm sorry," the Emperor murmured, letting them drift off to a nearby table. "That must be terribly distracting."

"It's beautiful."

Sheev levered himself to his feet and walked over to a couch, where he sat down next to his son, "What can I do for you, Trey?"

"Um, this Master Yoda ..."

"Yes?"

"He was surprised that I am not sensitive to the Force."

The old man leaned back against the couch, "I am not certain if he was surprised, precisely. The Jedi Order forbade emotional attachment so very few Jedi had children. Anakin Skywalker, of course, was an exception, but it was his decision to marry and bear children that led to his Fall. The children themselves are, of course, wonderful people, but I'm afraid the whole thing was rather a disaster for the parents. Thanks to me and Malvos, sadly."

Trey twisted his hands in his lap and Sheev looked at him worriedly, "You are distressed, my son?"

"Am I worth anything without the Force?" the youth blurted out suddenly.

The Emperor's eyes widened in horror. He had skimmed a couple of parenting books in the last few days and there was an entire section on self-image issues. He had always been a supremely confident person but apparently many young people of Trey's age went through heart rending seasons in which they doubted their self worth. He should say something encouraging.

"Er ..."

"I think I am," Trey continued determinedly. "In fact, and I hope this isn't offensive, I think that it's a problem that you, as Emperor, are Force Sensitive. I think it's unhelpful."

"Why?" Palpatine asked curiously.

Trey frowned in concentration, "You aren't normal. I mean, you and Lord Vader and Luke, you're all like the Corellian Superbeings, you know? You can move things in the air, like glowing balls ..."

"And spacecraft," Palpatine continued. "Yes."

"Spacecraft? Really?"

"Well, small spacecraft, easily."

"Wow. Anyway, I think that given that you were a despotic leader, and you are able to hit people with Force Lightning and choke them to death ..."

"Not that that was my thing, exactly. That was more Lord Vader's thing."

"Right. I think you should ... step down."

"Step down?"

"If you are willing, Father. I mean, I'm just saying that you have a reputation and you can't relate to people very well because you have these crazy special powers. It would be good if we could find someone else, preferably not a Force Sensitive, but a wise leader who could guide the galaxy towards peace."

Palpatine gazed fondly at the boy, "I agree."

"Do you?"

"Yes, and I think you would be a fantastic Emperor."

Trey's eyes widened and he squeaked in shock, "Me? I can't run the galaxy! I'm not even 19 years old yet."

Palpatine rose to his feet and began pacing enthusiastically, "Luke Skywalker's mother, Padme Amidala, was a truly gifted politician in her teens and she guided my homeworld of Naboo. Yes, Trey, you would be a fantastic Emperor!"

_/_

_Author Note: Wow, I am sorry for the delay in updating! I got caught up in two other fanfics. Why do I do this to myself? Hope you are well and staying safe! _

_Also, I just published my first book! It's not a SW story because of course Star Wars is copyrighted. It's a Pride & Prejudice variation called 'I am Jael' on Amazon Kindle. Take a look if you are interested._

_ I am enormously grateful to the Star Wars fandom because your encouragement and helpful feedback honed my writing skills the last few years. You are awesome!_


	18. Chapter 18

_Cafeteria_

_Rebel Base_

_Ryloth_

"So you seriously believe that Emperor Palpatine is willing to step down as leader of the galaxy?" Leia demanded incredulously.

Luke glanced at his father, then at Tano, "Yes?"

"He started the Clone Wars and manipulated his way to the position of Emperor. He built a Death Star and destroyed Alderaan. He enslaved the Wookiees of Kashyyk and is responsible for the murder of billions. And now he's just going to give up all that power and authority?"

"It was largely Malvos, Princess," Vader replied formally. "His brother was indeed manipulating him, and by extension the rest of the galaxy."

"Truth is," Ahsoka said insouciantly, wandering around in search of food, "I think Palpatine is totally sick of the whole thing. He is kind of an odd duck now. It is strange interacting with him 'cause he's still freaky smart and incredibly strong with the Force, but he acts more like a child in some ways. I think his emotional development was frozen about the time his brother began controlling him."

"What's a duck?" Luke inquired in bewilderment.

"It's a water fowl," his sister explained absently. "You would definitely not see such a creature on Tatooine. So ... um ... I don't quite know how to address you three. You say that you are Emperor's Hands?"

"Yes," Brilani agreed with a nod.

"So what do you think about Emperor Palpatine? Did you work with him closely? Do you think he's changed?"

Aralina exchanged a quick glance with her twin, "He has definitely changed, Princess Leia, though honestly we didn't see a lot of him. He usually gave us orders through one of the nasty overseers who have now disappeared in delightful fashion. Mara Jade can you tell more about Palpatine himself. I think it is pretty clear that she was the silver child among the Hands."

Jade looked up irritably from the cup of powdered caf that she was moodily stirring, "I was not."

"You most certainly were," Brilani argued. "Not that that was a good thing for you, I'm just saying you actually interacted with Palpatine fairly often, unlike Ara and me and every other Hand I've talked to."

"I thought I was the only Hand until a few weeks ago," Mara said quietly.

"I didn't know that!" Luke said in a surprised tone.

"Yes," the redhead ground out. "I thought I was special. I was even stupid enough to imagine that the Emperor cared for me; not in an affectionate way, but as a valuable member of his government. Now I find that I was just a random pawn on a dejarik board."

"You were a slave, as were all the Hands. As were the Inquisitors. As was I."

This gloomy pronouncement from the tall, scarred man next to Luke caused the temperature in the room to plunge, especially for the Force Sensitives.

"There is truth to that," Ahsoka stated solemnly, "but that is over. I realize you don't know me, Princess Leia, but I am still in the Light and still very much opposed to the Empire in its current form. Palpatine has changed significantly. Indeed, he is now a Light Sider."

Han sighed even as he placed an arm around Leia. The movement caused Vader to straighten in outrage, which in turn caused Luke to elbow his father firmly in the side.

_"Leave them alone_," he ordered through their mind link.

The cyborg hesitated with a grimace on his face, then forced himself to relax.

"_Very well,"_ he grumbled back at his son.

"Well, as lovely as it is to see you all, you'd better get back on your ship. We'll take care of the freed slaves from Jabba's Palace, and I'll make a report to Alliance High Command," Leia said.

She hesitated, then leaned forward to grasp her twin's hands in her own, "Luke, are you sure you won't stay with us?"

Again, Vader stiffened but his son spoke quickly, "No, Leia. You know I love you, but my place is with Father right now. I hope we can talk more frequently but you have an Alliance to help run, and I need to assist in dismantling a corrupt Empire from the inside out."

His sister sighed and nodded, "I think you are kind of crazy, but I understand."

"Princess Leia," Vader intoned suddenly. "I would like Ahsoka Tano to stay with you and teach you the ways of the Force."

Leia blinked at her giant cyborg father and then turned her attention on Tano, who was cheerfully eating a ration bar.

"Have you asked her?" she demanded pointedly of Vader.

"Yep, he did," Ahsoka mumbled with her mouth full.

"Snips, please show a little decorum. Have you not heard that you should swallow your food before speaking?"

"Oh please," Tano grumbled even as she slugged down a glass of recycled water, "I assure you I was far too busy dodging Imperials and bounty hunters to worry about such niceties. You've obviously been coddled these last twenty years."

"Coddled," Vader repeated dangerously, his exposed face showing narrowed blue eyes. "Coddled."

"Yeah. All those people genuflecting before you … it's embarrassing to even think about. I mean for a Jedi or even a big, bad, stupid ..."

"The question is," Luke interrupted firmly, "whether you want Ahsoka with you, Leia. I think it's a great idea. She's fun, she's smart, she's talented, a good teacher, and she is great with her twin blades of terror."

"She will keep you safe," Vader stated starkly. "You live a hazardous life."

"What about Luke?" Leia asked practically. "He's the one hanging out on Imperial Center, the target of ire of every Imperial who lost someone on the Death Star."

"We'll keep him safe," Aralina Silk cooed dramatically.

Leia glared at her, "Don't you go making any moves on my innocent, naive brother."

"I am not …" Luke began.

"I wouldn't dream of it, your Highness," Ara replied cheerfully. "Your brother is a great guy, but his father is up there on scary people I have met. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side in a permanent way."

"And I can make my own decisions about romance …"

"He's so young," Leia explained wrapping an arm around her brother, "plus he comes from a total backdesert. I am trusting you three Hands to keep him safe from any rapacious females ... and yourselves, OK?"

Luke groaned aloud.

/

_Dingy Theater_

_Sublevel 4_

_Non-Human District_

_Imperial City_

_The next evening_

"So you really have the credits, Trader Smish?" the theater owner asked dubiously.

Sheev Palpatine gazed benevolently at the Bothan.

"Will this be sufficient?" he inquired, pushing a credit chip over to the alien.

Director Hont of the North Side Players looked at the credit chip, read the amount, and felt his head swim.

"Is this ... this some kind of joke?" he stammered.

Palpatine took a deep, patient breath. He wasn't used to people asking him questions except as carefully worded requests for clarification of orders.

"Yes, indeed. I have done very well for myself these last decades trading in the Outer Rim territories. I now wish to sink some of my profits into your theater group."

"I'll be honest, sir. The play has not done well in the last several years. At this point, I seriously doubt that it will make a profit; indeed there is a significant chance that you will lose all your credits."

Palpatine waved a casual hand, admiring his black and purple painted fingernails in the process, "I have the credits to lose, Director. _The Shaak Trap_ is a North End institution! Do not worry your furry head about it."

"You are entirely certain?"

"I am, though I do have a request?"

Director Hont looked nervous, "Yes?"

"I would like a part in the play."

Now Hont looked terrified, "A part? Do you have any acting experience, sir?"

"_Only pretending to be a benevolent Chancellor of the Old Republic while engineering a war and taking over the galaxy as Emperor_," he thought, but did not say.

"Entirely amateur," he did say. "I was thinking perhaps the droid butler? It only has two or three lines. And I do have my business concerns so I would only want to act in the occasional matinee."

The Bothan's Force sense cheered immediately, "By all means. May I ask, and I do this with all respect, sir, is your hair naturally purple?"

"Ah, no," Palpatine replied cheerfully. "I rotate colors depending on my mood."

"Like Relinka Spetzv, the Holonet Host," Hont replied helpfully.

"Exactly."

/

_Imperial Holonet Studio #3_

_1 week later_

"Good morning, your Highness," Relinka Spetz gushed with a weird mixture of terror, bubbly enthusiasm, and nervous energy.

"Host Spetzv, it is wonderful to see you today," the Emperor replied cheerfully. "I like your hair color very much."

Relinka relaxed a little and patted her aquamarine curls, "Thank you, your Highness!"

"Well, to business," Palpatine said briskly. "I have another appointment soon. This young man at my side is my son, Trey Palpatine."

Relinka's eyes flared open and she choked on her own breath. She struggled to clear her airway so she could respond to this proton bomb shell announcement.

"Your ... your son?" she finally managed to squeak out.

"Quite. And I am immensely proud of him!" Palpatine stated fiercely, placing a loving arm around Trey, who was looking rather dazed.

"Of course you are ..."

"His mother was a lady of the night who tragically died when Trey was but a child. Then I lost track of him for years! I just found him recently. He's a brilliant politician. I flatter myself that he got that from me."

"Of course ..."

"I am old, so I am going to start transitioning power to my son."

Again, Relinka felt a strong urge to cough in shock, but this time she managed to suppress it, "Transition power, your Highness?"

"Yes, do try to keep up, Relinka! I am quite tired of ruling the galaxy day in and day out. Of course, I won't just dump the whole job on Trey immediately, but he'll start attending dull meetings for me, won't you, Son?"

Trey, who had been looking stunned, sat up suddenly, his eyes bright with enthusiasm, "Yes, Father!"

"I do wish to speak of security a bit," Palpatine continued casually even as he pushed a button on his watch. A moment later, the door to the studio slid open and the two meter hulking form of Darth Vader strode in, complete with flowing black cape, menacing helmet, and seriously annoying respirator noises.

"Lord Vader had kindly agreed to spend much of his spare time watching over Trey, to keep him safe. I need hardly say, but I will say it anyway, that anyone who targets my son will regret it very, very, very quickly."

The Emperor lifted his hands and pointed his (less gnarled than before) fingers toward the wall. A moment later, Force Lightning arced from his fingertips and hit the wall before meandering over to a pile of studio equipment tidily stacked out of sight behind a large potted plant. The equipment in question promptly blew up, causing a loud bang and a small fire.

Relinka began shrieking even as the Emperor, his son, and Darth Vader rose to their feet to leave the studio.

"My apologies!" the former Darth Sidious called over his shoulder as the sprinklers came on and he exited stage left.

"_More acting experience_," he thought to himself with a smile.

/

"Escort my son back to the Palace, Lord Vader," Palpatine instructed even as he shot a hunted glance at his chrono. His theater group was meeting very soon and while he had long enjoyed making people wait on his pleasure, in his alter ego as Trader Smish he would not wish to be late to the first practice.

"Of course, your Highness," Vader replied.

Trey walked onto the shuttle with the black monolith in tow. The two settled in adjacent seats and waited for lift off. The moment the ship was in the air, the armored figure reached up black gloved hand and took off his helmet with a sigh of relief.

"Better, Captain Vitra?" Trey inquired sympathetically.

"Yes, your Highness," the Captain replied with a sigh. "It is heavy, and I am aware that the real Lord Vader's helmet was far heavier since he actually had life support components within."

Trey Palpatine wrinkled a worried brow, "I hope that you do not find your new assignment especially burdensome, Captain."

"Not at all, sir, not at all!" the Captain hastened to assure his young charge. "It is a little odd to be in a situation where my immense height is truly of service to the Empire, but I am truly honored. I do confess that I would not like to be in a situation where you are actually attacked. This lightsaber prop looks real enough, but of course it is useless."

"No one has attacked Lord Vader on Imperial Center in 16 years," Trey replied authoritatively. "I read several reports on this matter in the last few days. Lord Vader had to fight for his authority in the early years of his service to my father, but now people are mostly just terrified of him. Reasonably so. He scares me, frankly."

"I am certain he will not harm you in any way, your Highness," Vitra said doubtfully.

"He won't," Trey agreed, "because he more or less worships the ground his son Luke walks on, and Luke and I are good friends."

"That is excellent, your Highness."

/

_Author Note: My apologies for the long delay in updating this story. I didn't know where to go with it and then I realized, um, I've pretty much wrapped up any conflict so it just needs to end! So there will be one, maybe two more chapters, probably one. Thank you so much for your patience with my slow pace! Thank you to my husband who has edited so faithfully. _

_Also, Captain Vitra is from an earlier chapter. Vader encountered him and was astonished to meet an Imperial Captain as tall as he is. _


	19. Epilogue

_The New Rancor Theater_

_Coruscant_

_5 years later_

"30 minutes to pink screen, sir."

"Thank you, Jeb," Sheev Palpatine told the Ithorian stage being. "I will be ready!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Are you nervous, Father?" Emperor Trey Palpatine asked from the corner, where he was busily painting his face with random colors from his father's make-up kit. He needed the stress relief after an irritating day of mediating meetings between an Outer Rim trade alliance and a group of irritable Core Worlders who had tried to corner the market on shaak meat.

"Not at all, Son," the elder Palpatine said jovially. "I am so looking forward to playing a krayt dragon. I believe it will be an enjoyable stretch of my acting talents to play a non-sentient creature which just wants to eat people."

"Just don't really eat anyone, Father," Trey replied, rolling to his feet and walking over to place an affectionate arm around his aged sire.

"Tempting, but I'll restrain myself. Ah, your wife is here!"

Trey turned with a smile toward the door, just as the former Aralina Silk strolled into the room.

"Darling wife!" Trey cried out.

"Darling husband, what have you done with your face?" his loving wife inquired.

Trey frowned at the mirror, "I painted it green and blue and purple, of course. Do you like it?"

"Yes?"

"Trey found today's trade alliance meetings quite tedious and the face painting was stress relief" his father explained cheerfully, rising to his feet. "I need to get back stage to get inside my dragon costume."

"Break an elbow, Father!"

"Thank you, my boy!"

Aralina waited for her father-in-law to depart and then strolled over to wrap an affectionate arm around the Emperor.

"How are you really doing, Trey?"

The emperor of the known galaxy groaned slightly even as eyes, with awe and delight, his wife's bulbous figure. Their first child was due in some three months.

"I am fine, I suppose. Today everyone was being so stubborn. I don't, of course, approve of Lord Vader's former methods of choking idiots, but I understand the impulse."

"Come on, Trey. Let's go watch your father as a krayt dragon. Brilani and Wedge are going to join us. "

"Awesome. Can I get some chocolate popcorn with Crait red salt?"

"Of course you can, your Highness."

/

_Tree House_

_Kashyyyk_

"Yes, I do see the problem," Darth Vader murmured aloud, eyeing the lightsaber hilt in the great Wookiee's hands.

The mighty Longray rumbled at some length, causing C-3PO to shuffle forward a few steps to ensure he did not miss anything of the great furball's words.

"He says, Lord Vader, that in addition to the hilt being too small in diameter, he feels it bending under his fingers when he tightens his grip."

Vader shook his head incredulously. His own cyborg hands were extremely strong, but there were feedback loops and he had trained himself not to clutch the hilt too tightly. It made sense that the Wookiee, with his even larger hands, was holding the hilt more tightly to secure his hold.

"I will work on it," he assured the giant who stood even taller than he did. "We will need to expand the diameter and change the material."

The Wookiee roared a short reply which Vader did not need translated, but of course Threepio translated anyway.

"He says, thank you for your assistance, Lord Vader."

"Thank you, C-3PO," Vader replied courteously. It had been a shock to discover some years ago that C-3PO and R2D2, his old droids, were not only in the custody of his children, but had been heavily involved in the Alliance's retrieval of the stolen Death Star plans.

R2D2, when informed of his true identity as the former Anakin Skywalker, had attached himself firmly to the (former) Sith Lord and yelled at him in binary for a full 27 hours and 15 minutes. Vader, knowing he no doubt deserved the rebuke, had listened, though had grown weary with the process and had fallen asleep at about the 23rd hour.

C-3PO had grown increasingly peculiar with age. The droid had always had a rather odd personality, no doubt because he had been created by a nine year old Tatooine slave boy, but the combination of a memory wipe (apparently shortly after the twins were born) and interacting with Rebels on a regular basis had proven hard on the droid's underlying personality.

Han Solo, now Vader's son-in-law ...

Really, how could it be that his daughter, Princess Leia Organa, had fallen for such a rogue?

At any rate, Solo was quite tired of C-3PO and his neurotic chattering, and had gifted the droid to his father-in-law at a Life Day party last year as a joke.

Fortunately, Threepio had proven a useful companion even if he was a little annoying. He was an excellent translator and he and R2D2 were quite an amusing pair.

It was odd, really, after 20 years of being steeped in the Dark Side, how pleasant it was to be amused by anyone or anything.

"Perhaps wood from a wroshyr tree could be used," Luke commented as he walked into the room with a small Wookiee clinging to his torso. Vader's son had been on the adjacent balcony of the dwelling, caring for the female cub while her father was working with Vader. This entire Wookiee family was, incredibly enough, Force Sensitive; the most obvious manifestation of their powers was that they had successfully protected their clan from capture by the Empire during the long years of Kashyyyk's occupation and enslavement.

"That ... is a wonderful idea," Vader murmured softly, looking around with interest at the various objects within the tree house; it was clear even from a brief glance that wroshyr wood would be used for a multitude of uses.

There was a sudden shout through the Force and both Skywalkers jerked in frenzied concern.

"Take your daughter, please," Luke asked hastily, handing over the cub to her father and dashing toward the door.

Vader was right at his heels. His body was far more pliable and functional than it had been before Sheev Palpatine returned to the Light; his mechanical parts were the best in the galaxy, and his organic body had largely been healed by his twins and their compatriots.

He was still bald, but bald was beautiful.

Luke leaped heedlessly across a five meter gap to an adjacent balcony with his father right behind him. They skittered to a halt next to the red maned woman who stood at the railing, staring worriedly up a tree

Luke looked up as well and suppressed a gasp. Staring down at him were two little boys, one 2 and a half years of age, one only 11 standard months. The red haired older child looked rather uneasy on his perch some 100 meters above the forest floor far below, but the younger, blond baby was grinning enthusiastically, his few pearly white teeth gleaming in the sunshine.

"I am holding Jaxon with the Force," Mara Jade Skywalker explained quickly, "but I am not sure I can hold both boys if they let go at the same time."

"Father, can you take Cristofer?" Luke asked. Vader reached out with the Force and carefully grasped his eldest grandson gently, then nodded at his son, who leaped into the tree.

"High up, Daddy," Cristofer commented, casting an uncertain glance below him.

Luke carefully wrapped a physical arm around the toddler and pulled him close to his own body, "Yes, high up, Son. You shouldn't climb trees without Daddy or Mommy climbing with you."

"Ok."

Luke leaped carefully back onto the balcony just as Jaxon, apparently deciding he was tired of branches, let go. Mara floated him back into her arms, the child giggling madly in the process.

"I seriously went into the refresher for five minutes!" Mara ranted softly, leading her husband and father in law into the guest treehouse where she and her family were currently residing. "I left the boys locked in their room, no dangerous toys, the nanny droid in residence, and when I came back out, they had escaped and were climbing a tree. And the nanny droid is shut down."

"Cristofer," Luke asked sternly. "Did you unlock the door and turn off the nanny droid?"

The little boy hung his head sheepishly, "Yes, Daddy. Jaxon heped."

Jaxon gurgled enthusiastically and threw out a hand toward a random door, which opened obediently.

"Dear Moons of Iago," Luke muttered, as Vader stared at the baby with wide eyes.

It was quite possible, he realized, that his twin children would not have survived to adulthood under his care; he hoped that he would have treated Luke and Leia well, but baby Skywalkers were capable of finding more trouble in five minutes than most children could boast in an entire week.

/

_Otoh Gunga_

_Beneath the surface of Lake Paonga_

_Naboo_

"It has indeed been an honor to meet with you, Boss Lanu," Leia Organa Solo said with a dip of her head.

"Yes, great," Han Solo agreed manfully, opening the door to the small sub and gesturing for his wife to proceed ahead of him.

Leia crept into the vehicle with her boy/girl twins in her arms and adjusted herself into her seat, with Han following her. He closed the door behind them and, without comment, started up the vehicle's engine. Within seconds, he had the sub on its way out of the Gungan city of Otoh Gunga and into the great waters of Lake Paonga.

"I totally could not understand them," Han said with a groan.

"This from the man who is fluent in Shyrriwook," Leia replied with a chuckle.

"With the Gungans," Solo complained, "it is like the words should make sense because they are sort of Basic, but then they aren't, really. I mean, the way they talk should be criminalized."

Leia laughed as she drew her sleeping baby twins closer to her, "I do know what you mean. I spent quite a bit of time with a Gungan ambassador as a child and I think that helps me understand them, but they have a very strong, um, accent, if that is the right word? That and an odd word order."

"They make Master Yoda sound downright refined," Han commented bitterly. "I spent so much of the last three days of the negotiations grinning like a fool when someone talked to me, because I truly did not know what they were saying. It almost makes me miss C-3PO. He would have loved following us around translating every random Gungan comment."

"Han, should we be worried about the giant fish following us?"

"Nah. They are pretty harmless, I understand, and if not the outer hull of the sub has an electrical network which will let us fry them."

"Nice," his wife commented, looking around through the surreal underwater mountains. "It's very beautiful here."

"Romantic, even."

Leia grinned at her husband, who was smiling at her roguishly, and then focused on her infants, whom she carefully floated into their little bed in the back of the sub.

"Very romantic," she agreed, pulling him close to her for a kiss.

The End

_Author Note: I truly found the Gungans in general, and Jar Jar in particular, almost impossible to understand in the Phantom Menace._

_Also, many thanks to Brievel for giving me the idea of a Palpatine redemption story!_

_Thank you for all of you who patiently waited on the slow updates on this fic._

_And thanks to my loyal husband for his faithful editing!_

_ /_

_For those of you who enjoy the Pride and Prejudice fandom you might be interested in __my books on Amazon:_

_I am Jael_

_The Blind Will See_

_I have been Jaeled – coming soon!_


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